Wanted: Opinions on trash and recycling.
Brandon and Groveland Township officials are hoping residents will respond to surveys regarding waste hauling in the area.
The opinions of Brandon and Groveland Township residents are still being sought regarding waste hauling and recycling services in the area. Both municipalities have posted surveys on their respective websites, www.brandontownship.us and www.grovelandtownship.net.
The surveys are prompted by a study examining development of a system to handle solid waste for Brandon and Groveland, as well as other north Oakland County communities including Springfield Township, Independence Township, Waterford, White Lake and West Bloomfield. The study is paid for by a Capital and Cooperative Initiative Revolving Fund grant (CCIRF). Resource Recycling Systems of Ann Arbor was awarded the contract to research the project in January.
Groveland Township Supervisor Bob DePalma said he has received about 100 responses from residents to the survey so far, with 75 percent in favor of a township coordinated contract for services. He is hoping for 300-400 total responses and to that end, mailed surveys to homes on Wednesday.
‘I’d like to feel confident that we understand what the majority of the citizens want and if we do something, doing it in line with what the majority want,? said DePalma. ‘The next few weeks are critical, we need people to respond.?
Anna Collinson of Resource Recycling Systems formulated the questions for the survey and said Brandon Township has had about 119 responses, with a 50-50 split on the number interested in township-provided services and a majority interested in more and easier recycling services.
The CCIRF study seeks to answer three questions: whether there are efficiencies in working together; what systems can increase recycling and waste diversion; and whether emerging technologies are feasible.
Thus far, Collinson said, the answer to the first question is yes. She cited No-HAZ and SOCRRA as examples. SOCRRA and RRRASOC, are waste consortiums in the southern and western ends of the county. Several communities contract together for one waste hauler, allowing them to negotiate lower rates.
Brandon and Groveland townships use subscription-based services, in which residents contract their own waste hauling services. Collinson notes that most systems other than subscription services are the ones that will increase recycling and waste diversion. Other systems she cited include contracted services, preferred hauler, municipal provided services and ordinance/licensing model.
A final recommendation is expected in June, but preliminary results show a benefit to the communities working together and pooling resources, with more services and reduced costs.
‘These are recommendations, but the communities will have to make the final decisions, and that is why the surveys are so important, because they ask what the residents think,? said Collinson, who believes it is unlikely one waste hauler would service all the communities. She said the more likely recommendation will be that each community take bids for their own waste hauler? contracted by the townships rather than individual residents.