The Mirror Newspapers Reflecting Life Along The Maumee River
BY KAREN GERHARDINGER | MIRROR REPORTER — Waterville residents: Get ready to roll out your toters.
Republic Services will be delivering the wheeled containers to Waterville’s 2,200 households during the week of Monday, November 30 through Friday, December 4. Beginning with the Monday, December 7 collection, all refuse and recycling should be in those toters, said Waterville’s municipal administrator, Jon Goch-enour.
Republic is sending out details and maps outlining the changes, including how the city will be divided into Area A and Area B for purposes of bi-weekly recycling and unlimited pickup. Area A is the section of the city north of Michigan and west of Wilkshire (see map) while Area B includes households south and east of the intersection of Michigan and Edgerton/Wilkshire, which backs up to Conrad Park.
“The biggest change is that the whole city will not be picked up in one day in terms of recycling and unlimited pickup,” Gochenour said.
Recycling, up until now, has been weekly, with items placed in an 18-gallon bin. The lidded toters will make it easier for residents to fill up and wheel out without items blowing out of the bin.
A color-coded calendar outlining which areas have recycling each week will be posted at www.waterville.org as well as on the Pray Park sign and in e-mails to residents who have signed up for the alerts.
The same areas will be used for the unlimited pickup, which will begin with Area A on Saturday, December 5 and conclude with Area B on Saturday, December 12. These unlimited pickups will be scheduled twice a year using the same format. Tags can be purchased from the city for $6.00 for extra bags of garbage and $12.00 per item for bulk pickup.
Waterville is one of the last cities in Northwest Ohio to discontinue using manual collection – meaning workers have been physically picking up cans and bags to place in the trucks. The use of toters will now allow Republic to utilize automated trucks with an arm that collects the uniformly sized, wheeled containers.
In March 2019, after years of using Stevens Disposal, Republic purchased the Stevens contract. A one-year extension of the contract with Waterville was approved and expired on June 1, 2020. Waterville City Council approved a five-year contract with Republic during its April 27 meeting, but it took until November 10 to iron out the final agreement.
Republic was one of just two bidders for the job and was much lower in cost with the five-year option. No company would provide a bid on doing manual collection, Gochenour said.
As Republic gets ready to deliver the toters, about 167 households have requested the smaller, 65-gallon option, which while narrower in size is the same height as the 95-gallon container. That larger unit holds at least three large, filled garbage bags.
“I understand some people might have a problem with storage,” Gochenour said.
He expects that a few residents might change their minds and ask for a smaller or larger unit after seeing how it works out in their garage or driveway. That can be changed, Gochenour noted.
An informational package, including details on what can and can’t be recycled, was sent out this week. Additional information is available from Republic at www.republicservices.com and (800) 234-3429 or by contacting Waterville at www.waterville.org and (419) 878-8100.
