By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Are you happy with your trash service, or would you prefer a single waste hauler for the entire township? Addison Township officials want to know.
Reports have it some residents are having a hard time getting their trash picked up because the garbage companies prioritize larger contracts with other municipalities.
“The only way to protect your township is to have numbers,” said Township Supervisor Bruce Pearson at the Sept. 20 board meeting. “You have to have numbers so they say we got to go pick up the garbage in Addison Township because we have a contract with them and they’re a large number, so they won’t bypass us.”
The township could potentially negotiate a cheaper contract and save money from less wear and tear on the roads.
Pearson acknowledged that some residents have strong feelings about the issue, and he asked the board if they want him to continue researching it. The board voted unanimously to create a survey to gather resident input. When ready, a link to the survey will be on the township website, addisontwp.org, and a paper form will be available at the township hall at 1400 Rochester Rd.

Public Comment
Several residents expressed their opinions on the issue during public comment at the Sept. 20 meeting.
Jeff Larsen said, “I think the greatest thing you could do is keep your nose out of that. By getting involved in it you are inadvertently, maybe even subliminally, altering competition. . . There’s only so much trash in Addison Township. If you have one company do it or ten companies, they’re going to transport the same amount of tons over the year. It’s as simple as that. I would very much like my people to remain in place and if I want to do business with them I can, without any kind of interference from the township.”
A man who moved to Addison from Rochester said he was pleased when Rochester switched to a single hauler. “We improved our service, reduced our rate, we had fewer trucks going down our road. I can tell you my experience from Rochester, it was incorporated in our tax bill and we got great service.”
He said offering a single trash hauler bid is consistent with free market enterprise because the township can still change suppliers every few years to go with the best service.
Another woman said she had to renegotiate her bill every year since her neighbor’s bill is consistently $150 cheaper, even though they have the same company. “Our trash this year, our recycling in particular, has been missed on multiple occasions,” she said. “We pay our bills annually, so it’s not because our bills are not payed . . . I think a single hauler trash payment would be fair to the community at large because we would all be subject to the same bill, we wouldn’t have to call and fight our case every year.”