Avondale Estates City Commission to continue discussing sanitation services
Avondale Estates City Hall. Photo by Dean Hesse.
Avondale Estates, GA — The Avondale Estates City Commission will hold a regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 5:30 p.m., followed by a work session. The meetings will be held at Avondale Estates City Hall, 21 N. Avondale Plaza, and via Zoom.
During the work session, the city commission will continue discussing plans for the city’s sanitation services and hear from a potential contractor. The city commission is considering contracting with Arrow to take over sanitation services for Avondale Estates. City Manager Patrick Bryant presented the option at the Jan. 24 work session.
To join the meeting via Zoom, click here.
To view the meeting agendas, click here.
Public comments can be made either by attending the meeting in-person or through Zoom.
If the city commission moves forward with the contract, that would also mean the city’s sanitation fee would be reduced. At the next work session, the contractor, Arrow, will likely present its services to the city commission.
The city has been figuring out what its sanitation services will look like over the last year and a half after hearing from public works employees that the backdoor sanitation collection was time-consuming and labor-intensive.
In the fall of 2023, Avondale Estates released a request for proposals for sanitation services that included solid waste disposal and recycling. The city eliminated backdoor sanitation pickup and shifted to curbside collection in October 2023.
The city staff’s recommendation currently looks like Arrow taking over solid waste and recycling collection and the city continuing to do yard waste collection. The city would also contract out for landscaping services.
If the contract with Arrow is approved, the total sanitation fee assessed to households would be about $373.28. This revenue would go to the sanitation fund.
The current sanitation fee is $596 per household, which does not cover the total cost of the sanitation program. If the public works department were to continue solid waste collection, the city would need to replace its three garbage trucks. Revenue from the current sanitation fee would not be enough to cover that capital cost. The sanitation would need to increase to $710 per household to cover the capital costs.
Arrow would also pick up recycling and solid waste at commercial properties. Bryant didn’t specify the exact cost to do so but said Arrow’s cost is about the same as the city’s cost.
In other business:
– During the regular meeting, the city commission will consider appointing a new mayor pro tem. Brian Fisher previously served as the mayor pro tem, but he did not run for reelection in November 2023.
– During the work session, the city commission will discuss purchasing an F150 Lighting for the police department. According to Ford, the F150 Lighting is an electric truck.
In 2022, the city purchased three electric vehicles and charging stations for the police department. The department picked up the three Ford Mach-Es in August 2022, and they are reserved for administrative use.
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