By George Slaughter
The City of Katy will have a new waste services provider, as the city council voted Monday to finalize a deal with Texas Pride Disposal of Rosenberg. The new contract is expected to begin in September.
Texas Pride Disposal replaces Republic Services, which held the contract for approximately 20 years. The Republic Services contract with the city ends August 31.
The new contract calls for a residential charge of $13.15 per month for garbage, recycling, and heavy trash pickup once a week. Pickups will take place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The last five cents in that rate came as part of a performance bond that would protect the city if Texas Pride Disposal fails to provide service. A similar performance bond is part of the current Republic Services contract.
The Republic Services proposal called for a residential charge of $14.50 per month for the same garbage, recycling, and heavy trash pickups.
Ward A Council Member Janet Corte said Republic Services had a number of missed calls, and had also expressed concerns about glass pickup. She said First Texas Disposal indicated a willingness to pick up the glass, while she got the impression that Republic Services would do so simply to keep the contract.
The city earlier this year organized a sanitation committee to explore its options on solid waste providers and services. City Administrator Byron Hebert led the committee, and said its goals were to increase services, with a less confusing schedule, at a lower cost.
The city surveyed Katy residents in March to gauge their satisfaction with current services, waste pickup schedules, and their willingness to pay for more services. Survey results were presented at the July 6 meeting. City officials said 6,370 surveys were mailed to residents, and 2,549 responses, a 40% response rate, were received.
The committee recommended that the city adopt a service schedule in which garbage, recycling, and heavy trash but all be picked up weekly, and super heavy trash picked up quarterly. This would be a change from the current service schedule, and which garbage is picked up once a week, recycling and heavy trash are picked up twice a month, and super heavy trash is picked up quarterly.
In other action Monday, the council approved a city administration proposal for a phase 1 approach for the downtown plaza redevelopment project. The council requested the administration put forth a proposal to make the area functional while being mindful of the pandemic. Project costs are as follows:
- Civic Center hardscape and completion: $123,162.
- Plaza landscaping: $40,738.
- Overhead power: $10,000 (estimated).
- Water tower fencing: $7,490.
- Drinking fountain: $3,749.
Costs will be covered with already-authorized Civic Center bonds.