City considers solid waste rate increase
James Coburn
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — An analysis of City of Edmond solid waste fees was presented to the City Council this week with a recommendation to raise the residential fees by $1 to keep up with expenses. Commercial rates need to be adjusted by 30 percent, officials said.
Expenses have climbed dramatically and base solid waste rates have remained steady for past five years, said Bob Masterson, maintenance and solid waste superintendent.
According to the Public Works Department:
• Services are priced too low to be profitable. They are about 35 percent lower than comparable cities and 58 percent lower than outside vendors.
• There is not enough volume to become profitable. It would require a 50 percent increase to break even.
The fleet of trucks used to dispose of solid waste is aging, Masterson said. In many cases, the la
st two years of a truck’s service will consume as much as 30 percent of the cost of a new truck, he said.
“So we can’t keep extending the life that far without running into some problems,” Masterson said.
Trucks are typically ordered every seven years with 10-11 months to receive them. The expansion of Edmond as more people move here is causing the trucks to wear more quickly, he said.
“On top of the counts climbing up so quick, they are designed for between 900 to 1,100 carts per day,” Masterson said.
Present cart counts are as high as 1,589 per route and average of 1,200 per route. Many customers have more than one cart, which is another cycle to consider for increased wear.
“On a typical day we can exceed what the truck was designed for by as much as 40 percent,” Masterson continued.
The cost of a new truck or parts for a truck has increased by 10-15 percent. An additional truck needs to be purchased along with equipment for developing new routes, he said. Trash service days for customers would remain the same, he added.
A campaign to educate the public is needed increase the logistical efficiency of trash removal, Masterson said. A driver loses at least 2.2 hours of daily productivity due to cars being parked in the way of carts being accessed properly.
“On one route we counted 85 cars parked directly in front of the carts,” he noted.
Trash is not being securely placed within the carts, causing drivers to have to manually pick up litter.
“The carts are supposed to be placed within a foot of the curb,” Masterson said. “If we move those out to 4 feet away from the curb, on just 20 percent of a route, it adds an hour and 10 minutes to the day.”
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City considers solid waste rate increase
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