Waupaca considers contracting for local pickup
By Angie Landsverk
The city of Waupaca is considering the idea of contracting to have residential garbage and recyclables picked up.
City residents are being asked to give feedback by clicking on www.cityofwaupaca.org/survey to take a survey about it.
“A lot of other communities do it,” said Justin Berrens, the city’s director of public works.
In Waupaca, residents must arrange for the service themselves.
They are paying an average of $400 to $500 per year for it, he said.
In communities that contract the service out, the average cost for residents is between $120 and $150 a year, Berrens said.
He recently began researching the idea.
That was after the topic came up randomly during a meeting of the city’s Development Resource Team.
The team is made up of Berrens, Mayor Brian Smith, City Administrator Aaron Jenson and Finance Director Kathy Kasza.
The group meets weekly to go over a lot of things, typically about new development, Berrens said.
After it came up, he began researching it.
If the city decides to provide the service to its residents by contracting out for it, he expects the monthly cost for residents would be around $14 to $15.
Berrens said the cost would go on the property tax bill as a special charge.
Recycling commission
One of the next steps in the process is to put the topic on the Waupaca Regional Recycling and Composting Commission’s agenda.
The commission meets a few times per year.
It includes representatives from the city, as well as from the towns of Dayton, Farmington, Lind and Waupaca.
The commission runs the Waupaca Regional Recycling and Composting Center, which is located on Lakeside Parkway, in Waupaca.
Residents from those municipalities may take their recyclables there.
The Pay-By-The-Bag garbage program is also available there for those who do not want to contact a garbage company to have their garbage picked up at their homes.
People are able to buy five tags for $15.
A tag is placed on a clear garbage bag that is 35 gallons at the most, with a 30 pound maximum of garbage inside it.
If the city decides to provide residential pickup, Berrens said he anticipates the regional recycling center would remain and function as it is.
He noted the town of Farmington has also expressed interest in contracting out for residential garbage and recycling collection and that the town of Waupaca has discussed it in the past as well.
Berrens stressed that if the city decides to do this, it will be for single family homes and duplexes only.
The city would have to “work through who would be included,” he said.
The next steps in the process include getting information from the survey, having a discussion at the commission level and then by the end of the year, making a decision about whether or not to proceed.
If the city proceeds, it will seek proposals for the service in 2021 and start the service in 2022, Berrens said.