Jonesville and Hillsdale choose Modern Waste

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Jonesville and Hillsdale choose Modern Waste
Jonesville and Hillsdale change waste management services. Courtesy | Wikimedia

Both the cities of Jonesville and Hillsdale will be switching their waste management services from Republic Waste Management to Modern Waste in the coming year. City council members approved the change at each city’s most recent council meeting.

“It was prompted based largely on price,” said Mayor of Hillsdale Adam Stockford in an email. “It’s our job at the city to re-evaluate our contracted services every so often to get the best bargain and service for our residents, and our public services committee and city staff in public services determined it was time to make a switch.”

Both Republic and Modern Waste gave bids to the city.

“Long and short of it, the city has been running on a month-to-month contract for a while and we were hoping to find a better deal with a long-term (five year) contract so we put it out to bid,” said Hillsdale City Councilman Matt Bell in an email. “Republic and Modern Waste provided bids, and Modern came out on top.”

The switch will save Hillsdale residents $4 a month if they opt into both recycling and trash pickup, according to Jake Hammel, director of Hillsdale Public Services. The switch will also save the City of Hillsdale around $17,000 by having Modern Waste handle downtown trash pick up, instead of department of public service staff do it.

“They will also be paying the city higher rent on the waste transfer station—which is city owned—and higher royalties on each ton of trash which comes through the station,” said Bill Zeiser, Hillsdale city councilman.

Jonesville residents will be saving 67 cents a month if they opt into both recycling and trash, although Republic’s bid for the new contract was over $7 more expensive per month than the current price.

Modern Waste will also provide 96-gallon carts for trash and recycling, Zeiser said. The carts will be provided for both Hillsdale and Jonesville.

“We had a very positive, long-standing relationship with Republic, so this was a difficult decision,” said Jeff Gray, City Manager for Jonesville. Jonesville’s contract with Republic lasted five years.

Both cities anticipate completing the switch to Modern Waste by early 2019.

“Republic has been good in helping us begin to make the switch,” Bell said. “It was a simple business decision, and we look forward to working with Modern.”