After previously expressing displeasure with the city’s current trash hauler, the Marthasville Board of Aldermen this month delayed a final vote on who will be contracted for the service, and whether the city will continue to pay for recycling.

Marthasville’s contract with current provider Grace Hauling expires May 30. Aldermen reviewed two bids for a new three-year contract during an April 15 teleconference. The bids included optional fees for recycling.

The first bid was from Grace Hauling. The company bid $14 per household, per month, to provide trash service only, or a total of $21 per month to provide both trash and recycling pickup.

Mayor David Lange expressed disapproval for the bid.

“Right now we’re paying $14 per month for trash and recycling. ... Now in this bid, they want $14 a month just for trash.”

Lange and several aldermen previously commented that they’ve been disappointed with Grace Hauling’s handling of recycling and trash services, and also with low resident participation in the recycling program. Lange said the switch to different collection times for different types of recycling has confused people.

“I don’t think anyone on my street participates, because you have to look up their schedule on their website and decide, ‘OK, do I put my newspapers out this week, or my aluminum cans?’”

The other bid for trash hauling came from Meridian Waste, a provider that works with several area municipalities. That company’s bid for trash hauling was $8 per household, per month. Recycling would add $14 per month, for a total of $22 per month, per household.

City Clerk Rhiannan Clark also clarified that Meridian’s recycling bid would exclude certain items that are normally considered recyclable.

However, there were questions about how the recycling service would be handled if Marthasville changes providers. Alderman Dan Grafrath asked if individual residents could sign up for recycling, or if the service had to be billed to everyone in the city. Lange responded it would probably be city-wide, but he wasn’t entirely sure.

There were also questions about the city’s twice-annual bulky item pickup. Grace Hauling currently charges $50 per ton for that service, and would continue to do so in a new contract.

However, Lange said Meridian’s bid for the bulky item pickup was unclear, and appeared to suggest that a flat rate of $25 per resident would be charged each year. That would end up costing Marthasville significantly more.

Without answers to those questions, the aldermen voted to withhold a final decision until their May meeting, which is about a week before the current trash hauling contract expires.

When the final vote is taken, Mayor Lange advocated for approving trash service only and letting residents find alternate options for recycling.

He also said that if the lower bid from Meridian is approved, the city should retain several dollars in administrative fees in the bills it sends to residents. He said all the work city staff currently do to send out bills and pay for postage is essentially being provided for free. An administrative fee would pay for that time.

Aldermen expressed agreement with the suggestion, but no vote was taken on the issue.