Bids for Carmel Town-Wide Refuse Pick-up Fall Below Cap
Three years after a citizen volunteer committee, led by former Town Councilman Anthony DiCarlo, proposed the town board examine if taxpayers could save on garbage hauling costs if a town-wide pick-up were instituted, a definitive and official vote on the matter is now on the horizon.
The vote, which could happen as early as Wednesday, Nov. 7 but had not been scheduled yet, would be on whether or not to accept any of the bids submitted by garbage carters to pick up refuse in three zones within the town’s garbage district.
If the town board votes in favor of accepting one or more of the bids, town residents would no longer have to individually negotiate a contract with a carter, but would instead pay for this service up front for the year via their January tax bill.
At the Oct. 24 meeting, Councilman John Lupinacci read the array of pricing submitted by the carters for four different options of service.
All of the carters were asked to include once a week recycling, two annual bulk pick-ups and holiday tree removal in their bids; all of which carters are now currently required to provide customers in order to obtain a license to operate in town.
Last year, the town board approved a price cap carters could charge individual residents. The cap set the rates for garbage pick up at $29 per month for once a week pick-up and $34.50 per month for twice a week pick-up.
“If you want a frame of mind of where the bids came out for this, you can gauge it to that,” Lupinacci said.
The bids received from carters that most closely mirror the service residents of one and two family homes receive now ranged from $18.50 to $41 per month for twice a week pick up of a 95 gallon pail supplied by the homeowner, and $20.50 to $39 a month for twice a week pick up of the same, but with the 95-gallon pail and a 65-gallon recyclables container provided by the carter.
For larger families who might require more services, Lupinacci said that carters were asked to bid on “a la carte” items that residents would have to privately contract for with carters, on top of the amount they paid to the town for basic service.
“The goal here is we would hope that we would get premium pricing from the carter because the carter in various zones would have the service already there,” Lupinacci said.
Included in these “a la carte” items was driveway service, meaning residents could have their pails picked up right outside of their homes, as opposed to bringing them down to the street.
The bids for driveway service came in between $25 to $45 additional per month. For the pick-up of an additional 95-gallon trash pail twice per week, with options either for a pail supplied or not supplied by the carter, bids ranged from just under $12 per month to $19 per month.
In addition to what they would pay for monthly carting services, Lupinacci said the amount each resident would pay would include a portion of the expense of hiring a new employee to administer the garbage district, including taking calls from residents and acting as a liaison with the carting company or companies.
Town Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt suggested two part-timers might be hired as opposed to a full-time employee, so as to avoid the additional cost of employee benefits.
Before voting to accept or reject any of the bids, the town board said it was vetting each of the carting companies that submitted them.
“If all works out…if the process moves forward…there will be a significant savings to the Town of Carmel residents by awarding the bid to pick up the refuse for the town, as opposed to the way it is being done now,” Schmitt said.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
