About 200 attend township meeting

By Don Rush

In anticipation of a larger than normal crowd for the April 12 Oxford Township Board of Trustees meeting, the venue was changed from the Township Hall on Dunlap Road, to Lakepoint Community Church on W. Drahner. The move proved correct as close to 200 people attended, mostly to hear the township’s plan to move to have a single trash hauler for the entire township.

After the pledge of Allegiance, Supervisor Jack Curtis, read a prepared statement. “ . . . I recently learned that a contractor for the township may have had contact with some, but not all potential bidders during the RFP (Request for Proposal) process. While there is no evidence confidential information was exchanged or other impropriety occurred, it has always been my practice that Oxford Township will not only adhere to the strict language or our Procurement Policy, but we will also avoid even the appearance of impropriety or unfair treatment.

“For this reason, I am exercising the Township’s right to reject any and all proposals under the RFP and thereby terminate the previously approved RPF. I am requesting this board refer the matter back to the Waste Disposal Ordinance Subcommittee with the direction to consider a Request for Proposal specifying that all Township employees, contractors and representatives strictly adhere to the Oxford township Procurement Policy in a manner consistent with fairness and transparency to all interested parties, and to avoid at all times even the appearance of impropriety.”

After the meeting, Curtis said an allegation was brought to his attention that the consultant the township hired to help them in the process of going to a single hauler, Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) from Ann Arbor) may have contacted haulers he believed could handle the approximate 8,100 homes in the township, instead of only putting bids out on the Michigan Inter-governmental Trade Network (MITN), for contractors who specialize in whole community hauling.

“I am here to tell you, it came to me and we stopped it,” told the audience after his prepared statement. “What I am going to do, though, is we are going to open as was suggested on January 11 of this year at the township board meeting, a public hearing . . . we do want to hear your comments and we will not move forward on this without them. We have taken emailed comments, written comments and telephone comments to heart and that is why we are here tonight.”

Treasurer Joe Ferrari made a motion to open the public hearing and Trustee Rod Charles, seconded the motion. All board members voted to open the public hearing.

Of the 200 people in attendance, 50 stood up to voice their concerns, only two favored going to a community-wide single hauler trash system. Most who spoke were customers of Community Disposal Services who had received letters from the company about that night’s meeting and how the company was not treated fairly. They stood up in support of Community Disposal Services (CDS), who has about 2,000 customers in the township. The public hearing portion of the meeting lasted from 6:40 to 8:49 p.m.

“I am not necessarily opposed to a single trash hauler,” one resident from Minnentonka Dr. said, “But I am concerned about the process and how companies are being chosen. I think 70 pages is a little ridiculous for an RFP. “I really have issues with these giant companies who don’t have ties to the community, so I would hope you guys would include Community Disposal in the bid process.”

Many who spoke said before they used CDS, other companies raised their rates and were unresponsive to their complaints. When they switched to CDS, one after the other said they received better services.

An Oxford Woods resident stated her concerns with the process, too. She stated in other communities the local government sent out surveys to residents to see if they wanted a single waste hauler.

Many who stood to speak were concerned about government overreach and taking away the residents’ choice.

One quoted former US President Ronald Reagan, “I’m here from the government and I’m here to help.”

“Right now, if I am not satisfied with my hauler, I can fire them and get a different hauler. If you go to a single hauler you’re taking away my choice,” another resident said.

“If you have a single hauler and they have issues, say labor issues, we could have trash piling up,” a resident from Harwood Drive said.

A couple of residents suggested going forward the township somehow divide the community in quarters or by Home Owner Associations – and by doing so only one trash hauler would be allowed in those areas.

At one point during the hearing, Supervisor Curtis said the issue was investigated because residents of the township requested the investigation. “If happens every eight to 10 years,” he said. “Some streets have four different haulers. Mine has three. That means we have six trucks on the roads every week. They have asked us.”

At one point in the nearly two-hour public meeting when multiple people were talking and clapping, tensions rose when Supervisor Curtis interjected, “Hold on, hold on. Look, kids.”

Then someone in the audience yelled, “Don’t be disrespectful. Don’t call anyone in this audience children. Don’t call me a kid!”

“Then don’t act like one. What I am trying to do is hold a professional meeting here. I’m trying to get the points across and listen and I can’t hear and nor can we address the comments,” Curtis said. At one point in the meeting he told the audience the board works hard for their community, and if the community wanted to blame anyone, to blame him. “Put my head on the platter.”

Towards the end of the hearing, Paul Taddonio, President Community Disposal Services went to the podium. “We started this company in 2016,” he said. He added he has invested about a half a million of his “own” money into servicing his customers in Oxford Township, about 10 percent of his entire business. “I do want to say though. I appreciate the integrity of the board. The consultant you used I have never liked . . . I’ve been in the business for 44 years and I’ve seen a lot . . . I am glad to see Oxford is holding it to a higher standard . . . I would be glad to help, I have ideas.”