Wilder is reviewing two competing bids from Rumpke and Best Way to decide who will be the city’s trash collector for the next three years.
The city council put out a call for residential solid waste and recycling bids earlier this month. While they received responses from all three Tri-State waste management companies, only two came back with legitimate offers, city officials said. Both bids would be for three years with the option to extend three more years through 2029.
The only real difference between the two is that Best Way included the cost of Wilder’s four dumpsters in their bid, said City Administrator Terry Vance. Altogether, those dumpsters are an additional $5,040, but the overall cost of their contract still comes in under Rumpke’s. Vance recommended factoring that cost into the residents’ rate, but that in the end will be a council decision.
“If you don’t do that, the city still has to pay the bill and it is just absorbed into the city’s general fund which is every taxpayer in the city instead of just residents,” Vance said. “We encourage those to be used rather than have trash all over the roads and streets all over town.”
Best Way’s bid breaks down to around $220.50 per resident per year receiving curbside collection, while Rumpke’s would be $284 annually. Both contracts come with unlimited recycling and normal waste collection included along with an approximately 64-ounce recycling bin and a 95-ounce trash can.
The potential switch comes as a reaction to multiple online complaints about Rumpke involving missed collections and garbage trucks damaging residents’ cars. While those comments have been making the rounds on social media, however, city officials maintain that they have received no substantive claims about Rumpke’s service or apparent lack-there-of.
“You’re going to have issues. It’s just too big of an endeavor to not have problems,” Vance said. “Action can be taken a lot quicker if they call the right people and not just talk amongst themselves.”
Councilmembers will contact other cities in Northern Kentucky that have contracts with Best Way, including Fort Mitchell and Lakeside Park, over the next month to get a better perspective. Then they will discuss the contracts further at their next meeting on Sept. 5. Rumpke’s current contract with the city ends on Dec. 31, 2023.
City council also passed a resolution updating the rules for waste haulers and residents for the first time in 30 years.