Shakopee Set to Offer Citywide Recycling, Trash via Allied Waste

A new partnership is brewing when it comes to taking care of Shakopee's disposables. 

At its July 2 council meeting, the Shakopee City Council will be asked to enter into a five-year contract with Allied Waste Services to provide residential refuse and recycling collection services, beginning June 1, 2014.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at city hall. 

The contract includes refuse and recycling collection rate changes, an every-other-week collection option, new single-sort recycling and a move toward City-ownership of refuse and recycling carts.

Under the proposed contract, a single-family Shakopee homeowner with the most commonly held 60-gallon cart will see an overall reduction of $2.73 per month (excluding state-imposed sales taxes). Conversely, townhome residents with a 60-gallon cart service will see their rates increase by $2.84 per month, for combined refuse and recycling services.

Unlike previous contracts, the new contract with Allied Waste Services will equalize what single-family and townhouse residents pay for waste collection. In the past, single-family residents subsidized townhome collection costs. Now, all residents will pay the same rate, according to information provided by city staff.

“The concept of differentiated rates goes back to the 2001 contract, when most townhomes were not under the City’s organized collection service,” said City Administrator Mark McNeill via press release. “At the time, many were served by dumpsters, rather than individual carts. That led to incidents of illegal dumping and lower rates of recycling. To bring townhomes under the city’s contract, two pricing structures were negotiated. However, with the new contract, if you throw out 60 gallons of garbage, you will pay the same rate, regardless of what type of home in which you live."

Recycling will also be a flat rate, regardless of the cart size.

Added to the proposed rates is the cost of new, city-financed and owned carts. On May 7, the City Council voted to purchase 22,000 refuse and recycling carts. The vendor had previously supplied the City’s carts. As amortized over 10 years, the cost is approximately $.69 per cart per month.

“The rationale for the City ownership of the carts is that, one way or another, the customer pays for the carts. That’s either through increased rates from the hauler—who must pass along the cost of the cart during the initial five-year contract—or through a direct line-item charge from the City,” said Administrator McNeill. “The difference is that, once carts are paid for, the City owns the assets.”

In the long term, city-cart ownership saves the resident/customer money, McNeill said.

Allied Waste Services also plans to work with townhome residents to increase opportunities for recycling in those townhouse complexes. 

“Through greater participation in recycling,” said McNeill, “a townhouse customer may be able to reduce his or her billed rate by downsizing to a smaller garbage cart.”

A 30-gallon cart will cost $5.81 per month, vs. the $6.71 per month townhome users are paying now. 

The 60-gallon is $9.43 per month. Townhome dwellers are paying that same $6.71, but residents are paying $1076 on average. Plus, the recycling fee for residents is $4.64 for the standard 60-gallon, vs. $3.12 for townhome residents. All would pay $3.24 under the new plan, should the city approve it. 

Also included in the new contract will be recycling containers in Shakopee park facilities. Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Director Jamie Polley said the addition of recycling opportunities was desired. “The ability to recycle in the parks was a frequently made request,” she said, “and was a change recommended by the City’s Environmental Advisory Commission when they reviewed the specifics of the contract last fall.”

The City Council will discuss the proposed contract during its Tuesday, July 2 City Council meeting, which is set for 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 129 Holmes St. S., Shakopee.