Council Approves Exclusive Contract for Big O to Provide Trash Hauling in the Village

Granville Council passed the single trash hauling proposal at last night’s Council meeting on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The vote was a unanimous endorsement of the new arrangement whereby Big O will be the sole trash hauler for Granville starting January 1, 2010. The Village will do the billing as part of its water service billing, and the monthly charge will be $14.65 per home, or $13.25 for seniors over 65 years old. The contract awarded to Big O will have these prices fixed for a three year period.

For most Village residents, the exclusive contract with Big O will result in a cost saving because Big O and Waste Management customers currently are paying about $22 to $23 per month for trash service. Still, there was some concern raised by Council Member Jackie O’Keefe, who has spent many years working with seniors. Council Member O’Keefe stated that she knows many seniors who have very little trash; perhaps a weekly amount that could fit into a grocery sack. Those seniors hire no trash hauler, but instead share their trash with a neighbor who has trash service.  

For those seniors, there is a chance the new exclusive contract with Big O will result in a new charge of $159 per year, and this new charge might hit the people on fixed incomes who can least afford it. The question is how the Village will enforce its mandate that everyone must buy the Big O trash service, and how the Village will interpret its “exception” clause for people who can “prove to the Village Manager that the resident has another legitimate option to dispose of the waste.” [See section 22 of the Bid Specifications]