This past Tuesday, the Piqua City Commission again visited a proposal from Rumpke Waste and Recycling that would have outsourced the city’s waste removal services to the company. The proposal has been front and center of the City Commission for the last few months and the publication has dived deep into the issue.
At the meeting, the Piqua City Commission by a 3 to 2 vote decided to keep trash collection services in house, rather than approve the contract with Rumpke.. This decision came after months of careful consideration and analysis by city staff, including discussions with the utility board and public work sessions.
The proposed contract with Rumpke would have provided stable rates for five years, with an option to extend for another five years. Projections from city staff showed that Rumpke's rates would be slightly lower than the city's projected costs for providing the service in-house over the next 5 years.
Rumpke would provide weekly trash and recycling pickup, as well as bulk item collection (up to 3 items per week). They would maintain current routes and pickup schedules to minimize disruption to residents. The five full-time city employees currently working in sanitation would be offered positions in other city departments, maintaining their current pay and benefits.1 This aspect of the proposal addressed concerns about job security for current city employees.
During Tuesday night’s meeting, the commission engaged in a nearly hour-long discussion of the pros and cons of outsourcing waste removal services. As a group, the commission considered factors such as cost, service quality, employee impact, and long-term sustainability. Some commissioners noted that they had received feedback from residents opposing the change, while others emphasized the potential cost savings for residents.
Long-term considerations were also discussed, including the challenges of maintaining in-house services. These challenges included difficulties in hiring and retaining CDL drivers, and the potential for unpredictable cost increases in the future. The commission recognized that the waste management industry is becoming increasingly complex and specialized, potentially making it more difficult for smaller municipalities to provide these services efficiently.
The proposal from Rumpke included several features designed to maintain or improve service quality. These included maintaining the current bulk pickup service, continuing to provide fall leaf collection, and offering alley pickup for senior citizens and disabled residents. Rumpke also committed to providing customer service lines for pickup issues and regular service level support to the city manager.
The City of Piqua’s Utility Board, which had reviewed the proposal, recommended proceeding with negotiating a final contract with Rumpke. They highlighted several key factors in their recommendation, including the potential for stabilized fees over a five year horizon, Rumpke's ability to maintain service quality through employee training programs, and the company's capacity to shift resources in the event of a disaster.
The board also advised careful management of the transition process, including clear communication with residents about the changes, consideration of how bulk pickup requests would be handled, and planning for apartment buildings and other multi-unit dwellings.
While the potential cost savings were a significant factor in the discussion, the City Commission also considered the broader implications of outsourcing this essential city service. They discussed the importance of maintaining high service standards, ensuring responsiveness to resident concerns, and preserving the city's ability to oversee and manage waste removal effectively.
The decision before the commission was not simply about whether to keep the service in-house or outsource it, but rather about how to best serve the residents of Piqua while managing costs responsibly. The commission's deliberations reflected a careful balancing of financial considerations with the need to maintain high-quality services for residents.
In the final analysis, the Commission’s decision was democracy in action. The Commission obviously took into consideration the desires and needs of the public, as well as the analysis and information provided by City Staff. The Commission was deliberate in their decision making process and came up with a timely decision that provides a clear direction on where the city is going in terms of waste services.
It’s easy to look at a close decision and state that either the decision was right or wrong; there were obviously good arguments on both side of this issue. But, rather than looking at the decision itself, residents should take note of the process in which the decision came about.
The City Commission took their roles seriously and came up with a concensus decision that the community can work from and they did so in a manner that brought residents along in the process and asked for their input along the way. The Commission deserves credit for the work they did on this issue.
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