Chelsea Council selects new garbage service provider

During its regular meeting April 1, the City of Chelsea selected Waste Pro as the new provider of garbage collection and recycling service in the city.

According to the resolution, the council determined Waste Pro was the lowest responsible bidder in the Residential I and Residential II categories. Waste Pro’s bid of $11.45 per month for Residential I and $19.00 per month for Residential II equals a blended rate of $11.83 per month.

Garbage collection services were previously provided by Allied Waste/Republic Services, which also submitted a bid in March to continue providing services. Other bidders were Advanced Disposal Service, Trash Taxi and Waste Management.

Mayor Earl Niven said the City’s contract with Allied Waste was set to expire on May 31. In the company’s original contract, Niven said collection fees were set to increase by 3 percent each year but Allied Waste informed the City in March that it would not be able to continue at that rate.

“They asked for a much larger increase,” Niven said. “About $2.25 a month for each resident.”

Niven said residents are currently paying approximately $9.40 a month for the service.

“So, [Allied Waste’s] increase would’ve been pretty close to what we got in the new contract,” Niven said. “But the contract was nullified, so we had to bid it out again.”