Ribbon Cutting for New Village Hall on June 12

Public Hearing Held on Garbage Service Providers

By Doris Elmore
Staff Writer

Atwood village residents filled the meeting room of the Municipal Building on Monday, May 22 for a public hearing for questions and answers on garbage service providers, GFL Environmental and Waste Management of Illinois for the Village of Atwood.

Prior to discussion of the garbage service, Village President Bill Fleming swore in two new board members, Mikie Stirrett and Justin Rosenberry.

Fleming also announced the next meeting of the board will be held on Monday, June 12 at the new village hall located downtown on the corner of Main and Central Streets, next to the Atwood Police Station. Kirby Clinic occupied this space until they built their new clinic on Rt. 36.

A ribbon cutting and open house will be held at 5 p.m., prior to the regular meeting at 6 p.m. at the new location.

Fleming turned to the subject at hand, trash hauling companies in the Village of Atwood. Waste Management and GFL have submitted their proposals to the village requesting an exclusive contract for hauling services for all Atwood residents. Waste Management would like a 3-year contract and GFL a 5-year contract.

Waste Management proposes the following scope of services for an exclusive service contract for the village.

Residential solid waste service:

•Weekly removal of the contents of a provided 96-gallon wheeled cart;

•The cart remains the property of WM and WM is responsible for all maintenance and repairs if required for the duration of the placement;

•Additional carts available for larger volume generation

GFL Environmental:

•In exchange for a new 5-year contract exclusive franchisee agreement, GFL will provide once per week trash collection of all households in a 95-gallon GFL issued trash cart. The fee will be $20.67 per unit per month. The fee will increase 5.0% each year of the contract.

There is more information for each contract available for you to read at the Village Clerk’s office.

The owner of Advantage Disposal was in attendance to voice his concern. If the village would sign a contract, Atwood residents would not be able to use his services. Steve McClain remarked that this is not fair to a local business.

President Fleming thanked everyone for coming to the meeting with their questions/concerns. This will give the board the opportunity to base their decision on the input of the residents. At the present time the village is a free market for garbage handling. They are not under contract with either company and they can remain that way if they desire. A decision will be made at the June 12 meeting.