If you’re a City of Warsaw resident and need a new trash container, you might want to hold off on buying one as the city is going to provide homeowners with new ones around April. And homeowners will get to pick the size they want – 96 or 64 gallons. At the Board of Public Works and Safety meeting Thursday morning, Department of Public Works Superintendent Jeff Beeler requested permission to order approximately 5,000 containers. His department will deliver them to residents in the spring. The Board of Works approved for Beeler to obtain quotes for trash containers to be used with the new side load garbage truck at its May 1 meeting. Cascade Engineering furnished pricing through a National Joint Powers Alliance contract. Beeler said he learned about NJPA through “one of our classes down at Indy put on by the State Board of Accounts.” Prices are $33.85 each for 64-gallon containers and the 96-gallon containers are $44.90 each. Beeler told the board that he reached out to NJPA. Cascade, which makes trash cans, is a company in NJPA’s process. He said he went out and talked to companies that use trash cans, and what they told him was that they found Cascade was the better can. Cascade was then asked for a bid for the city’s trash cans. Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said this was the first time he’s learned of NJPA. He asked if they met the bidding or quoting process required of a purchase of “this magnitude.” Mike Valentine, city attorney, said, “I’ve read all of those documents and it’s appropriate. It’s used nationwide.” Beeler said the NJPA organization is formed of cities, towns and counties. Thallemer asked what other types of purchases does NJPA do. Beeler responded, “There are hundreds. ... They do anything from office furniture to heavy equipment. They do things all across the board.” He said NJPA goes through the same process that the city normally would. There is no fee to join, he noted, “you just call and they give you a number to join and that’s it.” Valentine said it’s inter-governmental and started in Minnesota. As for the trash cans the city is purchasing, Beeler said homeowners will be able to choose if they want the 64-gallon or 94-gallon size. How many of each size is ordered will determine the city’s final price. “We made up these tags. We’re going to be sending out a tag on every can of homeowners. And on that tag it will say they have a choice to choose a 96- or 64-gallon can,” Beeler said. When they get ready to do that, he said it will be announced in the newspaper. He said they will try to choose a time that has good weather. “Each homeowner will be able to choose the size of the can that they would like. Put their address down. That will give us an idea of how many of each size can we should buy, and then we’ll add a percentage on to that so we’ll have extras. And that will be what we end up buying. Until that process is completed, we won’t know exactly what the numbers will be,” Beeler said. He said the city’s pricing for the cans has been extended to October 2016. Thallemer said the 96-gallon cans are similar to the city’s recycling cans, while the 64-gallon cans have a similar footprint but are smaller and more manageable. The city didn’t consider a smaller 38-gallon size because with the lids that stay on them, they get top heavy, tip over and break. The trash will be picked up weekly, he emphasized, and there will be one container per family. Delivery to citizens probably will be in April, Thallemer said, so there’s time to get everything in place. It’s going to be a big program to get them out. Board member Jeff Grose said the pricing of the cans looks good to him. Beeler said Warsaw got a better price on the trash cans than South Bend who went out on its own. “So we got a good deal,” Thallemer said. The Board of Works approved Beeler’s request to order the containers.
