Woodland residents will be paying more for garbage and recycling services beginning in April.
The City Council approved Ordinance No. 1552, which raised garbage and recycling service costs for residential customers during its Feb. 5 meeting.
Waste Control, a garbage and recycling company based in Longview, is currently under contract with the City of Woodland until 2025 to provide waste services. The company requested a cost-of-living adjustment, which is allowed under their contract every two years. The request equates to a rate increase for Woodland’s residential customers of 4.95%.
This means, for every 35- or 60-gallon garbage container, residential customers will pay $14.87 per month, up from $14.17. The rate for 90-gallon garbage containers will increase from $24.38 per month to $25.59 per month. For 60-gallon recycling containers, the price will change from $5.31 per month to $5.57 per month.
According to the ordinance report, the price increase is due to labor costs, landfill costs, the cost for needed repairs and maintenance, and increased transportation costs from Woodland to Waste Control’s transfer station to the landfill.
In a public hearing, one unnamed Woodland resident said that the rate increase only adds to the higher cost of living, as any rate increase makes living on a pension difficult. He asserted that the city should not pay a high price, as Waste Control does not offer recycling for glass and plastic.
“As we look at the services we receive from that company now, they’re pretty minimal,” the resident said. “And we pay a ton of money for it, [but] we can’t recycle plastic. We can’t recycle glass. There’s so many things we can’t recycle because that company has said, ‘No, you can’t use the recycle bins that way.’”
Councilor John Burke said he was interested in finding an alternative to the city’s current deal with Waste Control.
“...It’s about a buck for residents, a little less than a dollar a month,” Burke said regarding the rate increase. “And I think we need to look into seeing if there is somebody better next time and go from there, but we need to keep getting it picked up right now.”
Councilor Melissa Doughty said, after examining the new rate, she considers it a better option than frequenting a dump.
“I did go over the rates. They had a good comparison with the old rate and new rate. And it is less than a dollar, so, I mean, at this point, we do need to keep having our trash and stuff picked up because I don’t want to keep making trips to the dump to do it,” Doughty said.
Councilor Douglas Freimarck agreed that Woodland should look seek a different contract for garbage disposal.
“...I think it’s something we’ll have to look at very carefully. I’m not particularly pleased,” Freimarck said. “They won’t recycle glass and plastic — first place I’ve ever seen like that. I agree we need to look at that very carefully next time around.”
Councilor Monte Smith said residents have complained about being required to pay for garbage services and would rather take their trash to the dump. Smith wants to reexamine the contract to possibly allow residents to decide for themselves whether they want garbage disposal services or not.
“This is a pass-through for the city, so our hands are tied,” Smith said regarding the ordinance. “If we don’t approve the rate increase, the city ends up eating the cost of this, and it’ll come right out of the city budget at that point.”
The rate increase will be effective March 16 for the April 2024 billing cycle. Waste Control’s contract with Woodland is set to expire in December 2025.
