Mentone Council Agrees To Raise Trash Rates By $3 Per Month
Posted
Jackie Gorski-
MENTONE – Mentone residents will see a $3 increase in the trash removal fee starting in January.
Wednesday, Mentone Town Council approved to raise the trash rates from $10 to $13 a month.
Councilman Tim Croy said homeowners in Mentone are currently being charged $10 a month for trash service with APEX. It’s been 2018 since there’s been an increase in trash prices. That increase was with Valley Sanitation.
Croy said he talked with Rich Heemstra of APEX and he said with a 2.5% increase of cost of living and costs of fuel, labor and what it’s costing APEX at the landfill, Heemstra said costs have gone up.
Currently, Mentone is paying $3,150 a month for trash service, Croy said. If the Council looked at the costs APEX spent every month, it amounted to about $3,780 a month.
Councilwoman Shelly Krueger asked if Heemstra is saying he’s not making any money. Croy said for the 325 houses in Mentone, they were not making any money.
Croy said APEX was requesting a 30% increase in what they were charging a month, going from $3,150 to $4,104.75.
Croy said the charges includes trash pickup for the spring cleanup and the Egg Festival.
In addition, Croy said, if the town wanted to go to having canisters for trash service, APEX would buy all the residents red canisters for their trash. Sooner or later, it will probably go that way, he said. Most of the trash companies have gone that direction.
However, Croy said, Heemstra would like some sort of guarantee Mentone would use APEX for at least three years for trash service if APEX was going to make the investment in buying everyone trash canisters.
Town Marshal Jim Eads asked if they were the 90-gallon containers. Croy said yes.
Krueger asked if APEX wanted a three-year contract or a five-year one. Croy said the company would like a five-year contract, but at least a three-year contract.
Krueger asked if the contract would lock in the amount paid for trash service. Croy said he would have to say no.
The Council agreed to a three-year contract.
Croy asked if the Council wanted to write the contract for APEX to sign. He said all three Council members could go away in a year and a half and new Council members could sign off on a new agreement because there’s nothing in writing.
Council President Jill Gross asked if APEX had something written up for other communities. Croy said he had no idea. Gross said if the Council was going to write the contract, they would need all the information.
Utilities Superintendent Josh Shepherd said if APEX wouldn’t lock in the price approved Wednesday, there should be something in the contract that limited the amount the price could be raised. Krueger said if the town is guaranteeing a three-year contract, APEX should guarantee the price.
Gross said her mindset is if you’re in a business right now, how can you lock anything in right now? Business right now is different than it was five years ago.
Croy said he’d get with Heemstra to have Heemstra put together what he wants in a contract and have them present it to the Council in December.
Krueger said she thought APEX should be the ones writing the contract. Eads said he thought it was up to APEX to present to the Council what they wanted in a contract.
It was agreed to have APEX write the contract and have town attorney Andrew Grossnickle take a look at it by the December meeting.
In other business, the Council:
• Learned there will be FORWARD Kosciusko open house meeting Nov. 17 at Mentone Town Hall, 201 W. Main St., Mentone, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
• Learned the stormwater pipe was delivered.
Shepherd said he is waiting for work to be done on the storm sewer to start with G & G Hauling & Excavating.
The section of storm sewer to be fixed is 315 feet of pipe in an alley between Franklin and Walnut streets, south of Monroe and north of Jefferson streets.
