NATCHEZ, Miss. – City residents could see a $6 increase in their monthly garbage-pickup charge as Natchez aldermen have decided to get trash collectors to also haul away large bulky items, such as appliances and tree limbs.
Raising the current $24.15-a-month household garbage fee to about $30 will help pay for “adding a great and valuable service of the curbside (collection of) white goods and bulk,” said City Clerk Megan McKenzie.
The Board of Aldermen today authorized McKenzie and the city attorney to draft the final contract with Arrow Disposal Service, the city’s current garbage collector that beat out three other companies competing for the contract.
The board will decide later how much to increase Natchez households’ garbage collection fee that’s tacked onto their monthly water bills.
“We are looking at the monthly charge on the water bill for each household being $30.44 per month,” McKenzie said.
Plans call for Arrow to pick up Natchez residents’ bulky trash twice a month on a schedule with rules to be provided to the public in the coming weeks for this curbside service. This will be in addition to the three-times-a-week pickups (including one for recyclables) Arrow has been providing the city since 2018 for household trash.
Using crane trucks, Arrow will gather Natchez residents’ trashed appliances, furniture, mattresses, limbs and other large rubbish it hasn’t been taking. This should discourage residents from illegally dumping such garbage in bayous, ravines and elsewhere, McKenzie said.
City officials will work out a final contract with the Alabama-based Arrow before the old contract expires in May.
Natchez annually spends about $1.68 million for garbage collection and disposal. Arrow provides the curbside pickups while providing two wheeled carts to about 5,600 Natchez households to separate their disposable trash and recyclables. Plantation Oaks landfill buries the disposable trash at the south Adams County waste dump owned by WM (formally Waste Management).
McKenzie said the new contract with Arrow will increase the trash-collection costs for the city by $8.27 per household per month, which equates to an increase of about $588,000 a year based on the city’s estimated 5,600 households.
The Board of Aldermen last August raised the garbage fee from $22.17 a month to $24.15, which was levied because of the higher costs Arrow has endured due to economic inflation. The garbage collection charge – which also includes $1 for the city’s mosquito-control measures – is part of the monthly water bills Natchez households get for water and sewer service.
For the new contract, Arrow proposed a 4 percent cap on future price hikes charged to the city due to costs tied to the consumer price index.
Arrow’s garbage-collection bid is the lowest of the other submissions from Waste Pro, Hometown Waste and WM.
According to its landfilling proposal submitted last month , WM will charge the city about $230,000 a year to dispose Natchez’ trash at its waste dump, which is located off U.S. 61 south near Sibley. This reflects no increase from the previous annual rate. The estimated cost is based on taking about 6,200 tons annually for five years.
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