Huge Hike Ahead In Washington Trash Collection Costs

Residents in the city of Washington are facing a huge hike in the cost of their trash collection.  At last night’s Washington City Council meeting, board members voted to award a new trash hauling contract to Bigs Sanitation.  Council say the five-year contract is for manual collection and residents will not be limited to the number of containers that they can leave out for collection.  But, the new contract comes with a sizable increase in costs.  City Administrator Donn Henderson says residents will now pay roughly three-hundred-dollars per household, up from about two-hundred and forty-dollars.  Henderson says the city received bids from Bigs Sanitation, County Hauling and Waste Management and they bid out several options that included automated pickup and manual pickup with both limited and unlimited containers. The contract was awarded to Bigs Sanitation because the company came in about four-hundred-thousand-dollars cheaper than the others.  Council also amended its ordinance governing the business privilege tax abatement. The abatement program once was a city-wide program, it will now be limited to the central business district only. Once again Mayor Scott Putnam put out a call for volunteers to serve on several city boards. The city is looking to fill vacancies on the Zoning Hearing Board, Planning Commission and Civil Service Board. They are also anticipating vacancies on the Washington/East Washington Joint Authority and Washington Business District Authority. Applications are available on line and at City Hall.