The city of Marthasville is seeking a new trash collection company to provide service for its residents.

Marthasville’s Board of Aldermen made the decision March 18 to issue an open call for trash service bids. City officials said they’re dissatisfied with the service provided under their current contract with Grace Hauling.

“A lot of residents, myself included, are not happy with the trash services in the community,” said Mayor David Lange.

A recurring complaint against the company is drivers sporadically making their collection rounds before 5 a.m., Lange said. The city also pays for recycling service that officials say hasn’t been well conducted.

“One of the haulers told me personally that they don’t even take the recycling stuff to the recycling center. They haul it to the landfill,” said Alderman Nick Lange.

He added there has been difficulty getting some residents to properly sort their recycling, or to even use the correct bins for trash and recycling.

“It’s not being very effectively ran in the city of Marthasville. Part of that is on the trash hauler, Grace Hauling, and part of that is on the residents themselves,” Alderman Lange said.

Gary Schneider, owner of Grace Hauling, rejected the claim that recycling isn’t properly disposed. He said drivers sometimes have to put material with the trash if non-recyclables are mixed into the recycling bin.

“If the recycling is contaminated, we take it to the (waste) transfer station. That’s at the truck driver’s discretion,” Schneider explained.

He said it’s understandable that some people are confused about how to sort their recycling or what can be recycled. Sometimes well-intentioned customers put in items they think should be recycled, but it causes a whole load to be rejected instead, Schneider said. He added that he’s reinforced with drivers the importance of keeping clean recycling out of the trash.

“We will do the right thing at Grace Hauling,” Schneider said.

While discussing trash service bids, Mayor Lange suggested leaving recycling out, saying that alternate recycling opportunities are available for residents who feel strongly about it. The aldermen voted 4-0 to seek trash service bids, but also added recycling service as a separate, additional bidding option.

The city is seeking bids for three-year contracts for trash collection and recycling. If approved, the contracts would begin June 1. The bids will be collected by April 14 and could be considered as soon as the city’s April 15 board of aldermen meeting.