By KEN de la BASTIDE
Wabash Valley Refuse will continue to collect and dispose of the City of Kokomo’s trash for the next three years.
The Kokomo Board of Public Works and Safety awarded the three-year contract to Wabash Valley Refuse, which submitted the low bid. The other bidder was Waste Management.
Currently the city pays $35.25 per ton to dispose of the trash. The contract price for 2009 increased by 4.7 percent or $1.65 to $36.90 per ton. The contract price for 2010 will increase by 2.7 percent to $37.90 per ton and climb by 2.6 percent in 2011 to $38.90 per ton.
Waste Management submitted a bid of $37.40 per ton in 2009, $38.15 per ton in 2010 and $38.91 per ton for 2011.
Wabash Valley has had the city’s trash disposal contract since 2004. Waste Management had the 2003 contract and was charging the city $43.50 per ton at the time.
Last year, the city spent more than $700,000 on tipping fees alone. The fees are collected by area landfills for each trash truckload dumped.
Administration spokesman Dave Galvin said earlier this year the city was hoping the Howard County Recycling District would work to increase the amount of trash currently being recycled.
In other business, the board of works awarded a contract to Shook LLC in the amount of $726,615 for the wet weather filtration system project at the city’s wastewater treatment facility.
Galvin said it is part of the city’s project to eliminate combined sewer overflow that allow rain water and sewage to bypass the treatment plant and flow directly into Wildcat Creek during periods of heavy rain and snow melt.
The project will divert rainwater through a filter and then into the creek, he said.
“It will protect the creek and keep sewage from flowing into the creek during periods of heavy rainfall,” Galvin said.
