Talking Trash.

Bids for the City’s 5-year solid waste removal contract were opened last Monday, and City staff and Council Members met Thursday evening with representatives of the bidding companies, American Disposal Services, BFI, Four States Sanitation and USA Waste. The City’s current contract with American Disposal expires at the end of September.

Each of the companies submitted bids for three types of residential services: trash and yard waste removal; trash and yard waste removal plus curbside recycling; and a pay-as-you-throw system which includes trash and yard waste removal plus curbside recycling, but requires households to pay for any trash above a limit of two 23 gallon containers. Each bid also included commercial rates and the cost of a centralized drop-off site for recycling.

American Disposal, the City’s current hauler, presented a bid for the basic residential service of trash and yard waste removal which is lower than their present rates. A single member household currently pays $3.59/month, and a family pays $5.80/month. American’s bid for the new 5-year contract starts single service at $3.41/month rising to $3.51in year four and finally to $3.61 in year five. New rates for families begin at $5.50/month rising to $5.66 in year four and $5.83 in year five.

American representative Lowell Berliew pointed to competition and the fact that their service is already in place as factors allowing lower rates.

BFI offered the most professional presentation and the highest basic residential rates. Their single rates for the 5-year contract begin at $4.95/month rising over the life of the contract to $5.41. The family rate is $6.95/month rising each year to $7.59 in year five.

BFI’s representative Terry Stone promised a "seamless transition" if chosen for the contract and offered a detailed timeline for implementing their service. Stone also stressed BFI’s involvement in the communities they serve: their drivers participate in a neighborhood watch program in conjunction with local police and BFI offers two $1000 scholarships annually to local high school seniors. Basic rates for both USA Waste and Four States Sanitation fell between those of BFI and American.

American also offered the lowest rates for the curbside recycling program. The single rate is $4.87/month rising over the life of the contract to $5.33 in year five. Family rates are $6.79/month rising during the contract to $7.42 in year five. USA Waste had the next lowest bid.

The other curbside recycling alternative is a pay-as-you-throw program which allows each household two 23 gallon containers of trash per week and unlimited recyclables. If a household has more trash a fee per extra container is charged. American again offered the low bid at $6.26/month rising over five years to $6.84 with the fee for extra trash at $1.25 per container. USA Waste offered the next lowest bid, and the highest bid came from Four States Sanitation at $8/month rising to $10 with a $2 fee for each extra container of trash.

Owner of Four States Sanitation John Bartosh offered the option of donating all recyclables back to the City of Carthage so the City could receive the proceeds from their sale. Assistant to the City Engineer Joe Butler rejected that possibility saying the City did not want to bear the burden of finding markets for the items and managing the transactions.

Four State Sanitation does not currently serve as the solid waste hauler for any other communities, but Bartosh said he had previously served Carthage well in this capacity and had instituted the popular city-wide clean up days. He added that Four States is a local company whose earnings stay in the community.

No decisions have been made regarding recycling services. Discussion of the bids will continue in the Public Works Committee meeting this afternoon.

Commentary

Martin "Bubs "Hohulin
State Representative, District 126

I kind of hesitate to write this column because I don’t want you to think I’m whining or complaining. I’m not, I am simply going to point out how things work in Jefferson City and why we need to change the leadershipthere. During the months we are not in session, interim committees areappointed and meet to prepare legislation for the upcoming session. ALL the members of these interim committees are appointed by the Speaker.

Sometimes these interim committees are nothing more than an opportunity to get in the newspaper or on the radio, but most have a real influence in upcoming legislation. A case in point is the interim committee that met last year to discuss the desegregation issue. The committee was stacked to give the more liberal arm of the House the votes it needed and sure enough, out came a recommendation to keep pouring money into St. Louis and Kansas City. We debated the bill at length, but in the end, it wasn’t much different than what the interim committee recommended.

All this brings me to the point of this week’s column. The Speaker announced the appointment of a committee to look into ways to save the small family farm. As a small family farmer myself, I figured I would have something to offer on this issue, but I knew I didn’t have a chance of getting appointed. The reason? The Speaker knew I would not go along with any recommendations that involved new and increased spending and/or new and expanded government programs.

Any time we start up new programs and hire more bureaucrats to run them, who are we really benefitting? It sure isn’t the taxpaying citizens of Missouri! Looking down the list of House members on the committee, it was easy to spot a trend. While there were some farmers on the committee, there was not a single one that I would consider to be a true conservative. In all fairness there is one that sometimes comes close. All of the rural House members that believe the answers to problems DON’T lie in increased government were noticeably absent.

Anyway, like I said, I am not complaining. I don’t lack for enough to keep busy, but I figured this was a perfect example of the direction the leadership of the House is headed. If a House member thinks increased government is the answer to people’s problems they are pushed to the front of the line, while those of us that believe in the power of the individual and a smaller, less intrusive government are tried to be kept quiet. You notice I used the word tried!

Let me leave you with this thought. Don’t ever think the first thing you have to do when you get up in the morning is turn and face Jefferson City or Washington D.C. and look there for your happiness and contentment. If you ever reach that point you will have more problems than I can help you with!

As usual, I can be reached at House Post Office, State Capitol, Jefferson City, MO 65101 or 1-800-878-7126, or mhohulin@services.state.mo.us for your questions, comments, and advice.

Just Jake Talkin'
Mornin',

It’s always handy ta have a few nails around the house. Ya never know when ya might want ta hang a picture or fasten that porch rail. I still feel comfortable with the old fashioned eight penny for nailin’ to 2x4’s and a couple of finishin’ nails for trim work. Havin’ a few sixteen penny spikes come in handy for those heavier repairs or light construction. Now I’ve had ta add a new dimension to my collection, a variety of fasteners for my battery powered screw driver.

Havin’ a few tools and gadgets around in case of emergency was just part of my upbringin’ I suppose. I’d have ta guess that it comes from a heritage of rural "root cellar" dependent ancestors. ‘Course such thinkin’ can lead to just havin’ a lot of useless junk ya have ta trip over. At least if ya got a few nails and a little lumber, you can build a box ta keep it all in.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

McCune Brooks Hospital

Health Notes

by Judith Sheldon

SPINAL CORD MIRACLE? Christopher Reeve predicted that a cure for spinal cord injuries would be found by the time we turned into the 21st century. And he just may be right.

Research on spinal cord injuries has been going on for years. Much of the work has been done in Veterans Administration hospitals where the largest number of paraplegics in the United States come for treatment. New York’s Rockefeller University and New York University Hospitals have been conducting experiments to try to find ways to regenerate damaged spinal nerve tissue. Recently, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden was able to demonstrate success in re-establishing nerve links in rats with severed spinal cords. Not only were they able to get the severed nerve fibers to cross the gap between the severed halves of the cord, some function was also restored to the animals’ limbs.

Much of the spinal cord injuries suffered by most Americans involves crushed, not cut cords. It’s not known if this procedure will be helpful in these cases. The fact is, we’re still a long way away from developing procedures for human beings. But this breakthrough could lead to other important findings that will eventually produce a successful spinal cord injury therapy.

ARCHIVES Index