Friday, September 16, 2011

Possible change for Dunwoody trash pickup in the wind


I read the story in The Dunwoody Crier discussing DeKalb County thinking about fewer trash pickups and this is now being followed by an AJC article which is being directed at Dunwoody.  I have a family with three boys and I believe we could easily survive with just one trash & recycling pickup and one lawn pickup each week but I know some people really enjoy the numerous pickups.

As noted in the article, some people would be willing to pay more to keep the current service but I guess if I ever have to vote on this there would have to be a close comparison between service and price vs the quality of a known service vs the switch to the unknown.

AJC article by Michelle Shaw
With DeKalb County considering cutting residential trash pickup from two days to one, Dunwoody might have to decide whether to privatize collection to keep the same level of service.

The DeKalb County Commission has been discussing for several months reducing services to avoid raising rates in 2013. DeKalb public works officials have said cutting service days would allow rates to stay the same through 2015 for county residents.

But the possible change in service also could spread to the county’s municipal customers.
Dunwoody and the county have an annually renewable agreement whereby DeKalb provides residential and commercial trash service for the city. Should the county decide in the next few months to go to one day a week residential trash pickup, the decision would not necessarily immediately effect municipalities like Dunwoody.

“We would be obligated to fulfill those contracts as written,” DeKalb County spokesman Burke Brennan said. “If the contract calls for two days a week, we will pick up two days a week.”  But, he  said, once the contract expires, the new collection schedule would come into play, unless the municipality negotiates something more.

While nothing has been discussed by the Dunwoody council, City Manager Warren Hutmacher acknowledged the city could elect to hire a private company to pick up its trash if it doesn’t like what the county decides.

“It really is too early to speculate what we would do, since the county hasn’t done anything,” Hutmacher said.  Dunwoody's city services are contracted out to several private companies and though residents seem to be pleased with the privatization model, not everyone is happy about the possibility of going to private trash pickup.

Beverly Armento, who lives in Dunwoody, said she doesn't have a problem with DeKalb handling trash pickup. "They do a good job."

Armento said it is never too early to think about the effects of a decision to take trash collection private.
“I think this could mean job losses for the people who pick up the trash,” she said. “I would hate to see people lose their jobs. I would rather pay more so people can keep their jobs.”

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trash collection is paid for county wide by a $265 yearly charge as a separate line item on your tax bill. According to the County, the cost has not increased since 2006. Two options are under discussion:

1. Increase the $265 charge to $300 and keep the current 2 trash pickups service, 2 lawn pick ups each week.

2. Keep the current $265 charge and cut the service to 1 trash pickup and 1 lawn pickup per week.

Someone might wonder why you can keep the same service (four visits per week)for only about a 10% increase in the fee but will receive only half the service (a 50% reduction to two visits per week) for the same fee of $265.

Commissioner Rader and our own super Commissioner Gannon, two liberals out to save the world, seem to be leaning toward option 1. They explain that the money saved by the 50% reduction will be used for some unspecified "ancillary services".

The city of Dunwoody should start looking to privatize the trash collection. Dunwoody taxpayers should not have to pay for some unspecified "ancillary services" which probably will have no benefit to Dunwoody City or its taxpayers.

Mom99 said...

I am very happy with our DeKalb Co trash service and I would prefer only having one pick up per week. We don't need to trash trucks driving around our neighborhoods multiple days per week. If I understand correctly, we would only have trucks coming through on one day each week.

DeKalb Co does a great job and they will pick up most anything. I don't know of anyone with a private service who can leave large household appliances on the curb and have them picked up without an extra fee.

Rebecca said...

I've been very happy with DeKalb trash service. The guys who usually work my route are so friendly, and while that might seem like a silly point, it matters to me as a customer and probably also says something about their work environment. As it stands, I rarely set my can out twice a week, and we're a family of four with one in pull-ups.

GaryRayBetz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
GaryRayBetz said...

Dundevil - you are twisting my melon, man, with your inane trash talk!