Trash fee increases for Ridgeland residents on Reservoir
RIDGELAND — City officials approved an agreement with the Reservoir’s governing body that included an incense in fees for trash pickup for roughly 375 residential customers within the city limits and just outside of it.
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen unanimously approved on the consent agenda for the Nov. 17 regular meeting an interlocal cooperation agreement between the city and the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District for solid waste and recycling services for customers inside and outside of the City.
Public Works Director Mike McCollum said that the city will bill PRV each month for these services and PRV, in turn, will bill their customers. He said this agreement is a new agreement that will take the place of an existing one.
As of their last count they had 197 customers inside and 178 customers outside of the city limits. Areas outside of the City include Mallard Point and Roses Bluff for solid waste pickup and recycling for Roses Bluff.
The agreement includes a 10 percent administrative fee for customers outside the city limits plus the amount Waste Management charges Ridgeland.
The city charges the PRV $13.90 per month for all residential customers inside of the city for twice per week solid waste pickup. PRV customers outside of the city are charged $15.29, which includes the administrative fee.
Under the agreement, the PRV pays $5.75 for once per week recycling services in the city limits and $6.32 per month outside of the City.
When asked if customers in the PRVWSD area would see rate increases, McCollum said that is for PRV officials to decide and set the rates they bill their customers.
McCollum said that there were increases in what they were charging the PRVWSD based on increases set by Waste Management. The increases were approved by the City Board in June and went into effect in October.
The agreement approved in June increased the single-family residential monthly rate to $14.02, up from $13.75, for twice-weekly pickup, a difference of 27 cents for the city. Over the course of a year, this will represent a $3.24 increase.
McCollum said in June that they received bids for solid waste collection and disposal on April 1 around 2 p.m. Waste management was the only bidder. The contract includes a six-year initial term with the option to renew for four one-year terms after that.
The current contract has annual increases set at three percent for residential.
At the time, McCollum said that those numbers are not set in stone, and represents a maximum potential increase. Waste Management increases the rate annually based on the Consumer Price Index which ranges from one to 3.6 percent each year. McCollum also said that WM had originally asked for a four percent increase but had negotiated them down to three percent.