Support changes to the trash system...

[RecycleMichael]

I have heard there are different groups pushing information about changes to the Tulsa trash system...

I signed this petition...

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-them-tulsans-do-want-better-trash-service

[cannon_fodder]

Pretty simple checkbox comparison on this website:

http://talktrashtulsa.com/

[Townsend]

TW story:

Tulsa's trash board voted Wednesday to hire Littlefield Brand Development to create an educational campaign for the new trash and recycling system that will go into effect July 1.

The board, formally known as the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy, has budgeted a maximum of $1.2 million from its reserve for such an effort in the first year of the switch.

Also, $350,000 in each of the next two years will be factored into the to-be-established customer rates for ongoing education.

Littlefield's contract amount and scope of work are being negotiated.

"What the public is going to see through this effort is what we're doing and why we're doing it," TARE Chairwoman Cheryl Cohenour told the Tulsa World, adding that it's important to combat the misinformation that's circulating.

The educational campaign could include printed materials, TV commercials and other means, she said.

"We are going to try to reach the public in any way we can," Cohenour said.

The board has been evaluating the 21 bids submitted by six companies for the city's trash and recycling collection contract, using the criteria of cost, experience and method of approach.

It has set a special meeting for Dec. 14 to determine which company will be awarded the contract, which will start July 1, run for 14 years, including renewals, and is estimated to be valued in excess of $150 million.

The city's trash system is now disjointed, with about 20 percent of Tulsans receiving once-a-week collection with provided carts, while the other 80 percent get twice-a-week service using their own containers.

It's essentially an unlimited throwaway system, and participation in the current recycling program costs extra.

The services are subsidized by the trash board, and the reserve money being used for that is running out.

The board is looking to move the entire city to a volume-based program in which each household would be issued two carts: one for trash and one for recycling.

Recycling would be included in the base cost but not mandatory. To discard more waste than fits into the carts would cost more.

Customers would have a choice of three trash cart sizes, with smaller fees for the smaller carts.

It's also possible that collection will be once a week for all of Tulsa, depending on the bid chosen.

The hiring of Littlefield comes on the heels of the city's hiring former City Council candidate and public relations consultant Liz Hunt to join the Communications Department.

Hunt's $50,300 salary will be paid out of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund because her focus will be on trash and recycling. She starts Thursday.

Communications Department Director Kim Mac-Leod said Hunt's duties will be to take the materials prepared by Littlefield and use them in community outreach, through public meetings and other methods.

Also on Wednesday, the trash board discussed approaching the new City Council, which takes office next week, for permission to go into debt by $15.5 million to purchase the roughly 260,000 carts that would be needed to implement the new trash system.

The money would be repaid over several years through cart charges to the customers.

An analysis has revealed that, using the city's tax-exempt status and strong bond rating, the board can finance and purchase the carts more cheaply than they can be acquired through the companies that have bid for the hauling contract.

Finance officials told the board it will take about 60 days to get the bond financing in place, assuming the council agrees.

This brought questions from bidder representatives who wondered how the board would be prepared to award a contract when it doesn't know yet whether it can finance the purchase of the carts.

Some of the bidders included pricing both with and without their providing the carts, but others just bid for the hauling, assuming that the board would acquire the carts.

The apparent low bidder on the cost-side of the evaluation equation is NeW Solutions - an independent Tulsa firm that did not bid to provide the carts at all

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=593&articleid=20111201_11_A1_Tulsas110509

[dsjeffries]

The "Talk Trash Tulsa" checkbox site is good, but there's an error. The third item, "Free recycling available for everyone, with no sorting required." is not available right now. To participate in the curbside program, it's a $2/mo charge. However, recycling is free for everyone to drop off at all the MET recycling centers (even then, it has to be sorted). If that was the intention of the bullet, I'd change the wording.

[Truman]

This whole trash thing will be something other cities study when they are planning a change, so that they can avoid the backlash this one will create.

I won't be surprised if this fiasco winds up on "60 Minutes" before it is all said and done.

How many people commenting positively on this change live in the portion of Tulsa that already has cart service?

[godboko71]

I have (when I am in town using it) cart service and it has always been reliable. better then the trash service I got in east Tulsa with a contractor and twice a week pickup..

[Hoss]

I have (when I am in town using it) cart service and it has always been reliable. better then the trash service I got in east Tulsa with a contractor and twice a week pickup..

Looking forward to the switch, as my grandmother lived near Gilcrease Hills (cart based once a week service) and I currently live in East Tulsa (twice a week trash, every other week recycle).  The cart system was so much easier.

[Conan71]

I'm in favor.  Thanks to recycling and composting, I don't even generate a full 30 gallon can of waste a week.  There are times I may only have to roll the can to the curb every other week.  The big container would be overkill for me, but if I can pay less for sending less waste to the dump, I'm in favor.

[nathanm]

I'm in favor.  Thanks to recycling and composting, I don't even generate a full 30 gallon can of waste a week.  There are times I may only have to roll the can to the curb every other week.  The big container would be overkill for me, but if I can pay less for sending less waste to the dump, I'm in favor.

The present system works well for me, but that's because we hardly use any water. There are weeks I have a ridiculous amount of trash (non-recyclable packing materials are not something I appreciate), so it's nice to be able to set out a crap ton if I have to. I end up rolling the can out there around 3 times a month most of the time. On the bright side, I don't have to drive to Sand Springs to get rid of my cardboard anymore, so at least I get something in return.

[Conan71]

The present system works well for me, but that's because we hardly use any water.

Not big bathers, eh Nathan?

[nathanm]

Not big bathers, eh Nathan?

Bite your tongue. Being from Arkansas doesn't make me some sort of dirty swine.

Seriously, it's just two of us and between the low flow shower heads and our water efficient appliances it's hard to use much. The clothes washer uses 10 gallons or so for a full load, rather than the 50 gallons a regular one uses. The dishwasher uses 5ish unless the dishes are really nasty.

[rdj]

I live in the "NW Quadrant" and love the cart service.  I didn't mind the other service when I lived in midtown, but I prefer the cart and will enjoy the additional recycling opportunities. 

Having lived in other cities that switched to a cart based system years ago I was surprised when I moved to Tulsa and learned I had to go get a trash can.

[nathanm]

I had to go get a trash can.

Yeah, what the hell am I supposed to do with mine?

[cannon_fodder]

Bite your tongue. Being from Arkansas doesn't make me some sort of dirty swine.

[nathanm]

Touché