Board takes advantage of lower pricing
By John Faucher
Hortonville residents will soon receive recycling carts.
The Hortonville Village Board unanimously approved purchasing the 95-gallon carts at its Aug. 17 meeting for a one-time cost of $47.25 each.
The board also approved paying an additional fee of $11.50 per cart to cover the assembly cost and delivery of the carts to each household.
The delivery fee also includes entering the serial number of each cart and the creation of an electronic database for inventory purposes.
Outagamie County Recycling and Sold Waste Recycling Coordinator Christine Miller informed the board that the county negotiated a price discount from the cart manufacturer in hopes of convincing seven remaining municipalities in Outagamie County that do not use recycling carts to get them.
The seven municipalities without carts are Hortonville, Dale, Hortonia, Black Creek, Onieda, Buchanan and Seymour.
Miller informed the board that the village did not need to have carts to participate in the recycling program. However, the collection fee for municipalities that do not have carts would likely go up in the next contract schedule.
Miller said the county will have to go out for bids on a new collection contract in 2019.
“We know that if a company has to bring in two different types of trucks to do two different types of collection, it’s going to cost more,” Miller said.
Municipalities that do not participate in the cart program would have to help pay for that cost.
Village Administrator Diane Wessel said even though the board has until 2019 to decide, making a decision earlier will keep the cost down.
“If we kick the can down the road, in all likelihood the cost of the carts are going to go up because right now they are offering them at the same rates as what they gave last year through the grant,” said Wessel.
Wessel noted the carts would help reduce recycling debris blowing around in the village and encourage more recycling.
It was unknown if it would be favorable for future garbage collection contracts.
Wessel said the village opted for the manufacturer to handle the assembly and delivery of the carts because the village does not have the staff and resources available to deliver them.
Miller said the plan is to have an early to mid-October delivery date so residents can get accustomed to their cart before the snow falls.
Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste will provide all of the educational literature distributed with the carts.
The village will pay a one-time $650 fee to have “Village of Hortonville” stamped onto the side of each cart.
Wessel said the total fee of $58.75 for the carts and delivery will be placed on the property tax bill. There is a 10-year warranty on the carts.
Last November, Outagamie County began a large expansion of its existing recycling cart program by adding 13 communities to the participation list, including New London, Liberty, Shiocton and Kaukauna. Between fall 2016 and spring 2017, an estimated 6,900 carts were distributed to municipalities.