Lone Star to consider increase in garbage fee

 By: J. Leslie Riseden

Special Contributor to The Steel Country Bee

Lone Star solid waste customers may see an increase in their monthly bill soon. At the regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council June 16, Woodie Brantley of Sanitation Solutions presented a proposal that seeks an increase of five percent in the $9.51 rate that residential customers now pay, raising it to $9.99 per month.

Sanitation Solutions provides weekly trash pick-up to about 600 residential and 21 commercial/industrial customers, as well as dumpster service to 50 customers. As is common throughout the municipal public service industry, large commercial and industrial customers are charged at tiered rates, and their fees can fluctuate monthly, depending on volume. This allows service providers to establish a fixed rate for residential customers, whose volume stays fairly consistent.

“For residential customers, this increase amounts to less than 50 cents a month. The last rate increase was in August 2014,” said Brantley, who is the Municipal Marketing Representative for Sanitation Solutions. “We’ve had a good working relationship with Lone Star and its citizens since our contract began in February of 2010, and we look forward to continuing that relationship long past 2019,” (when the present contract expires.) City Secretary Devon Whatley commented that Sanitation Solutions has been “very good as far as customer service and resolving issues goes.” The company cites increased costs in general liability insurance, the Affordable Care Act, truck and equipment costs, and landfill compliance costs as reasons for the requested rate increase.

In addition to the rate increase, Sanitation Solutions’ proposal included a change in use of the CPI, or Consumer Price Index, as the basis for annual rate increases or reductions. Sanitation Solutions proposes that the contract be amended to tie the annual rate review to the “Water, Sewer, and Trash Collection CPI” as provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which better represents the increased costs in the solid waste industry. Brantley also reported that Sanitation Solutions is in the process of establishing five satellite locations in the northeast Texas region, one of which is Gilmer. This is expected to reduce considerably the travel time and wear-andtear on their vehicles and personnel, which are currently dispatched from Paris, over 75 miles away.

The Council voted to table Sanitation Solutions’ proposal until the next council meeting on July 21, at which time, the council will discuss the contract in closed session before voting on the proposed changes.

In other business, the council voted unanimously to increase the meter loop fee from $10 to $30, in order to bring the charge more in line with the actual cost to the city for electric inspection of meter loops.

Budget workshops for the 2017 budget are scheduled for July 21 at 5:00 p.m., and August 4 at 6:00 p.m. Workshops are open to the public, and will also be posted on the city’s website, lonestartx.net.