Residents of Brandon and Groveland townships, as well as several other northern Oakland County communities, would benefit from community-wide waste hauling contracts.
This is the conclusion, in part, of a months-long study of waste hauling services conducted by Resource Recycling Systems of Ann Arbor and paid for through a Capital and Cooperative Initiative Revolving Fund Grant (CCIRF). The study included Brandon and Groveland, as well as Springfield Township, Independence Township, Waterford, White Lake, and West Bloomfield.
‘I couldn’t be happier with the document they presented,? said Groveland Township Supervisor Bob DePalma. ‘It’s extremely comprehensive and insightful. It looks like an opportunity to save money, do something on the environmental front, and we should do some due diligence on one or two technologies to see if they have potential and then present solid numbers to the public.?
The survey ultimately recommended that the communities should:
? Begin work to finalize the details of a solid waste authority, which would be able to seek services on behalf of the communities and allow them to request and receive legitimate pricing in any procurement process;
? Begin work on the specifics of a community-wide hauling contract and procurement specifications, which would detail service levels within each community, the creation of service zones for specific services, requirements of the communities, and any use of automated collection or incentives;
‘Request proposals from conversion technologists to evaluate viability and desirability to conduct due diligence activities, narrowing the field to not more than two and begin specific negotiations around location and siting timeframe, price point and materials guarantees and financing in a controlled and actionable environment.
DePalma said he favors continuing to phase II of the project, setting up an authority to let out bids and discover what can be offered to residents.
‘If we bid together for services, we can get more services for less money than what our residents are currently paying,? said DePalma. ‘The only way to know for sure is to let a bid out and find out what a contractor would offer for services and at what cost. The reality is… it won’t be one guy that gets a contract and serves all seven communities. But the bottom line is it’s a lot less expensive to do on a large scale and you get more services.?
A survey of Groveland Township residents found that about 75 percent of 324 respondents are open to the idea of a single hauler in the township. In Brandon Township, the same survey found 285 respondents split? with 46.6 percent opposed to the township coordinating services and 53.4 percent in favor of a township-coordinated contract for trash and recycling services.
Brandon Township Supervisor Kathy Thurman said the township board would discuss the results of the CCIRF study at their next board meeting, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., July 6, at the township offices, 395 Mill St.
‘I don’t think we should go in the direction of having a single hauler at this point for Brandon Township; however, I would not be opposed to the consideration of a preferred hauler,? she said.