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SMITHVILLE
SMITHVILLE – Trash talk was on the agenda at the latest Smithville City Council meeting as council members approved its solid waste collection, disposal and recycling contract that will go up for bids at the end of this month.
During a special called meeting, Dec. 19, Place 2 Councilman Brandon Dunham recused himself, citing a conflict of interest, and stepped out of the building while the rest of the council determined the city’s submission requirements for its request for proposal. An RFP is an official document that invites companies to bid on city projects.
City manager Jeremy Frazier presented an RFP for the council’s approval. Using multiple examples of RFPs from other communities as guidelines, Frazier noted that Smithville’s RFP “matches what we are hoping to accomplish both internally and with the council. It is simply for you to consider,” he said.
Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Jenkins immediately listed additions he wanted to include to the RFP, such as trucks no more than four years old and spill kits on every truck to clean up oil and debris. Jenkins added, “I would like to see (price) options for recycling for weekly, biweekly and for every three weeks.”
Jenkins noted that while the most common recycling option is twice a month or every other week, some cities in the area have a monthly recycling pickup. Bastrop County resident Stacy Savage, who has 22 years of experience in waste and recycling industry, addressed the council. Savage is the founder of Zero Waste Strategies and is also known for her podcast “Trash Talker.”
“The vast majority of Texas cities have once a week trash pickup and twice per month recycling pickup and it seems to work for them,” Savage said.
Jenkins agreed, but said he wanted to make sure Smithville citizens had options they asked for. The city previously sent out a survey to residents where a small majority asked for twice weekly trash pickup.
“It’s by a very small margin, but we want to listen to our constituents,” Jenkins said.
Another concern Jenkins had about waste and recycling pickup was for Smithville businesses. He wanted to make sure local businesses could still pay for the city’s recycling permit and use the recycling center for their cardboard disposal.
“The businesses will not recycle if they have to pay for a dumpster,” Jenkins said.
Savage pointed out there could be other economical choices for businesses to use recycling, such as the size of recycling dumpsters and the frequency of pickups.
Savage also recommended the city add an educational and community outreach component to its RFP for both businesses and individuals.
“The education piece is going to be the entire crux of whether your program wins or fails. People need not only to participate but to participate in the right way. Recycling right is what we call it in the industry,” Savage said.
Part of “recycling right” Savage explained is educating people on what does or does not belong in a recycling bin.
“It’s the empowerment behind people recycling confidently. The reason they don’t recycle confidently a lot of times is because they don’t know what goes where and in frustration or embarrassment, they’ll just put everything in the trash,” Savage said.
The noted addendums, including education, were approved by the council to be added onto the revised RFP.
In other council business, discussions on tree and limb services and action on a public improvement district and $120,000 in budget cuts were postponed.
All city council meetings can be attended in person at City Hall, 317 Main St. or streamed online at ci.smithville.tx.us/189/ City-Council or follow on YouTube at City of Smithville, Texas.
