The Scio Township Board of Trustees is working towards contracting with a qualified company to provide non-hazardous waste collection for Township residents.
Under this plan, refuse, recycling and yard waste pick-up will be shifted from multiple private vendors who contract individually with homeowners to a Township-managed Preferred Vendor contract. The service will be for single family residences. Homeowner associations will also be invited to opt-in to the program as well.
The move has been in discussion since 2017, and the Board sees a number of improvements that the Preferred Vendor could provide for Township residents. These improvements include:
- Reducing the volume of heavy truck traffic on the roads in Scio Township
- Reducing the number of days trash bins are set out on Township roads
- Focusing on efficiencies of the services
- Providing the highest standards of service, experience, cost, and reliability
- Helping residents decrease the amount of solid waste sent to landfills
- Developing a communication and education program
- Educating the customer in waste reduction and recycling practices
Earlier this year, Scio Township issued a Request for Bid (RFB) for the Scio Township Trash & Recycling Services. Of the six firms that picked up the RFB solicitation, four responded. They are Republic Services, Advanced Disposal Services, Waste Management and GFL Environmental Services.
A focus group comprised of Township residents and Board members then reviewed the 4 RFBs in preparation to begin contract talks with the trash removal company selected. GFL Environmental Services was one of two companies that ranked the highest and also had the lowest cost. For these reasons GFL Environmental Services was chosen. Contract negotiations will begin after Labor Day.
Scio Township Manager, Bryce Kelley, realizes communications is always a challenge in Township matters and had this to say :
“Despite the numerous discussions at the Board of Trustees meetings, newsletter articles, and the website, news of the project has not reached everyone in the larger community. After 18 months of discussion some in the Township are still not aware of the trash & recycling project. Moving forward there will continue to be updates on the website, in the newsletter and at Board meetings about the status of the project. In addition, there will be mailed notifications of upcoming public comment forums. Two forums are planned. The first will deal with new Scio Township trash & recycling ordinances, the second will address details of the service for the residential customers. The company will be available to answer questions and clarifications at these forums.”
To stay updated on this and other Scio Township news, or to sign up for their newsletter, visit https://sciotownship.org/
