File photo
Trash pickup
Residents of the City of Hoover will soon see new trucks handling garbage/leaves and recycling pickup.
The Hoover City Council, during its July 20 meeting, authorized city officials to sign a contract with a new provider, Santek/Waste Services of Alabama. They will replace the current garbage pickup provider, Republic/BFI Waste Services, effective on Oct. 1, 2015.
Santek/Waste Services of Alabama was the lowest responsible bidder and will be paid $572,981 a month, or $6.875 million a year, according to the contract approved by the Hoover council.
“We had a great relationship over the past 12 years with our current provider, but Santek presented the lowest bid and met our specifications,” Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said in a July 22 interview.
Santek/Waste Services of Alabama will pick up trash twice a week and recycled materials once a week at about 25,000 homes in the City of Hoover, Ivey said.
A big selling point in contract negotiations, the mayor said, is that Santek/Waste Services of Alabama also agreed to replace all of the garbage cans and recycling bins currently used in Hoover. “Some of the trash cans here in Hoover are pretty old so we’re excited about that,” he said.
Ivey said city public works officials have been happy with meetings with Santek/Waste Services officials and are confident they will do a great job handling the important service of waste pickup/recycling pickup.
Based in Cleveland, Tennessee, Santek/Waste Services currently provides garbage services for the City of Gardendale, and research by Hoover officials found them to have a strong reputation, Ivey said. Although during the council meeting one council member brought up the idea that Santek/Services might open a satellite office in Hoover, the mayor said the company feels for now, it is best to have personnel on the field vs. in an office.
“At this point, we feel it is better to put people in the field monitoring the work rather than sitting in an office,” Ivey said.
