City of Fruitland
Council Meeting Minutes
Tuesday January 6, 2011
7:00pm
Mayor Walter called the Town Hall Meeting to order.
Recycling
Laura Liegois, Solid Waste Manager from the City of Muscatine, gave a presentation about the upcoming curbside
recycling program that Muscatine will be adopting on April 4, 2011. The Fruitland City Council is considering
adopting this program as well. A decision will be made at the January 11 City Council meeting. Clerk Thompson
reported that she had received 43 yes votes and 14 no votes from the questionnaire that was sent out.
After going through the bid process, Muscatine has contracted with Allied Waste of Bettendorf for curbside recycling
using state-of-the-art trucks and containers. Liegois stated that Allied Waste has been in business for over 20 years
and they are the second largest waste removal company in the country. Mayor Walter was asked if the City of
Fruitland had solicited other bids, to which he responded, no, there aren’t many reliable waste removal companies
in the area. Residents will no longer have to sort their recycling and take it to a drop off site. All materials that are
currently recycled, plus glass, can be put into the new recycling containers. There will be lists of acceptable and
unacceptable items on the container lid. When asked about cardboard, Liegois said that cardboard will have to be
broken down and placed in the container. Any large boxes can be taken to the Transfer Station. The Transfer
Station is the only site that will accept recycling after April 4. Under the new system, residents will place their
recycling container at the curb every other week, near where they place their garbage. Garbage pickup will continue
on a weekly basis. A magnet with the pickup schedule will be given to each resident. There are three container
sizes, 35 gallon (gal), 65 gal, and 95 gal. Residents will get the 65 gal container unless they request another size by
going to the City of Muscatine website before January 16. There is no additional cost for a larger or smaller
container. The containers will be delivered in March, and residents will have the opportunity to change their
container size one time without a fee. The containers belong to Allied Waste so they will handle damaged bins. If
residents would like to dispose of the cart and bins used previously for recycling, they can take them to the City of
Fruitland’s maintenance shed. Allied Waste’s automated trucks have cameras to detect if there is inappropriate
material in the recycling containers. In such cases, a warning tag is attached to the container. This will also happen
if the container is not in the correct place or position. In response to comments about trash cans blowing around on
windy days, Liegois said that these containers are very sturdy and should stay put. Liegois announced that there is
a TV program that will be running on local stations which will explain the entire system. Currently, the recycling is
sorted in Muscatine by City Carton. With Allied Waste, the recycled material will go to Bettendorf, and then to a
sorting center near Chicago.
Allied is charging the City of Muscatine $3.02 per household. Due to cost saving measures by Muscatine, residents
will only have to pay $1.70 per household. There will be no increase in cost over the five years of the contract
Muscatine has with Allied Waste. If the Fruitland City Council adopts this plan, all residents will pay for the extra
service whether or not they recycle. Fruitland has a year-to-year contract with Muscatine for garbage removal,
leaving the possibility that the rate for garbage removal could increase. Liegois said that she does not anticipate an
increase. The only possibility might be if the landfill has to raise its tipping fee, but Walter said that there was a plan
in place to reduce the debt for the landfill by 2019, so this should not be a problem. There will be no change in the
garbage service provided by Muscatine, which includes weekly pickup, spring clean-up, three bulk pickups a year,
and access to the compost site. If Fruitland decides to participate in this recycling plan, an addendum to include the
recycling would be added to the current contract with the City of Muscatine. Fruitland would not have a contract
directly with Allied Waste. When asked about a senior discount for garbage collection in Fruitland, Liegois said that
is up to the City of Fruitland. The City of Muscatine does not give Fruitland a discount for seniors.
Adjourn
Motion by Hills.
_____________________________
DeWayne Walter, Mayor
2/16/2016 10:35 AM D:\533564940.doc
_____________________________
Kim Thompson, City Clerk
1