By Jim Newell
Managing Editor
OXFORD TWP. — It’s now up to Oxford Township voters to decide if they want one garbage company providing services to the entire township, or if they want to remain with the status quo and contract those services individually.
The Oxford Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved during its meeting on July 10 the ballot language for a single waste hauler ordinance to be put on the Nov. 5 General Election ballot.
Trustee Jonathan Nold, chair of the Single Waste Hauler Committee, made the motion on July 10 to send the proposed ordinance language to the county to be placed on the November ballot.
“If this does pass, it will go straight to a first reading in November,” said Clerk Curtis Wright.
There have also been recent service problems for some Oxford Township residents, who have contacted the township offices to complain that the garbage company they contract with had not been picking up their garbage, leaving an ever-growing pile of refuse mounting on their curbs.
However, since those are private contracts between homeowners and the garbage companies, the township has no authority to enforce the contracts or services.
The proposed Oxford Township ordinance does not affect Village of Oxford residents, who are already on a single-waste hauler system through the village government.
The resolution on adopting the proposed ballot language states that the “Township Board of Trustees finds that is in the best interest of the Township to seek an advisory vote as to whether it should adopt an Ordinance allowing the Township to award a residential trash collection contract to a single waste hauler to service the Township.”
The proposed ordinance reads:
The Charter Township of Oxford currently has multiple companies collecting trash from residences on various days and times. To reduce road wear, improve traffic safety, and offer more economical household solid waste, recyclable, and yard waste collection, should the Township Board of Trustees adopt an ordinance granting the Township the authority to award a residential trash collection contract to service the entire Township? If approved, a five-year Contract with a single hauler is estimated at $60.75 per quarter per household in the first year and estimated at $71.07 per quarter per household by the fifth year of the Contract.
Switching to a single waste hauler has been a highly contentious issue in Oxford Township. In April 2023, the township board tabled the issue after hundreds of residents attended meetings and complained about the possibility of switching to a single waste hauler.
Trustee Rod Charles had asked in September 2023 that switching to a single waste hauler be placed on an upcoming agenda for discussion.
In November 2023, the board voted to restart the process of switching to a single waste hauler for the entire township.
That began the process of the township’s Single Waste Hauler Committee looking into the possibilities and ultimately recommending that the board should put the issue before voters.
The proponents of switching to single waste hauler say that it will reduce the number of garbage trucks on the road each week, and the township could then hold accountable any waste hauler company that does not live up to the terms of the contract.
Opponents argue that switching to a single waste hauler limits their choices and would affect competition, and companies currently providing services in the township, especially smaller companies, could be outbid by larger companies.