I have heard there are different groups pushing information about changes to the Tulsa trash system...
I signed this petition...
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-them-tulsans-do-want-better-trash-service
Pretty simple checkbox comparison on this website:
http://talktrashtulsa.com/
TW story:
QuoteTulsa's trash board voted Wednesday to hire Littlefield Brand Development to create an educational campaign for the new trash and recycling system that will go into effect July 1.
The board, formally known as the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy, has budgeted a maximum of $1.2 million from its reserve for such an effort in the first year of the switch.
Also, $350,000 in each of the next two years will be factored into the to-be-established customer rates for ongoing education.
Littlefield's contract amount and scope of work are being negotiated.
"What the public is going to see through this effort is what we're doing and why we're doing it," TARE Chairwoman Cheryl Cohenour told the Tulsa World, adding that it's important to combat the misinformation that's circulating.
The educational campaign could include printed materials, TV commercials and other means, she said.
"We are going to try to reach the public in any way we can," Cohenour said.
The board has been evaluating the 21 bids submitted by six companies for the city's trash and recycling collection contract, using the criteria of cost, experience and method of approach.
It has set a special meeting for Dec. 14 to determine which company will be awarded the contract, which will start July 1, run for 14 years, including renewals, and is estimated to be valued in excess of $150 million.
The city's trash system is now disjointed, with about 20 percent of Tulsans receiving once-a-week collection with provided carts, while the other 80 percent get twice-a-week service using their own containers.
It's essentially an unlimited throwaway system, and participation in the current recycling program costs extra.
The services are subsidized by the trash board, and the reserve money being used for that is running out.
The board is looking to move the entire city to a volume-based program in which each household would be issued two carts: one for trash and one for recycling.
Recycling would be included in the base cost but not mandatory. To discard more waste than fits into the carts would cost more.
Customers would have a choice of three trash cart sizes, with smaller fees for the smaller carts.
It's also possible that collection will be once a week for all of Tulsa, depending on the bid chosen.
The hiring of Littlefield comes on the heels of the city's hiring former City Council candidate and public relations consultant Liz Hunt to join the Communications Department.
Hunt's $50,300 salary will be paid out of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund because her focus will be on trash and recycling. She starts Thursday.
Communications Department Director Kim Mac-Leod said Hunt's duties will be to take the materials prepared by Littlefield and use them in community outreach, through public meetings and other methods.
Also on Wednesday, the trash board discussed approaching the new City Council, which takes office next week, for permission to go into debt by $15.5 million to purchase the roughly 260,000 carts that would be needed to implement the new trash system.
The money would be repaid over several years through cart charges to the customers.
An analysis has revealed that, using the city's tax-exempt status and strong bond rating, the board can finance and purchase the carts more cheaply than they can be acquired through the companies that have bid for the hauling contract.
Finance officials told the board it will take about 60 days to get the bond financing in place, assuming the council agrees.
This brought questions from bidder representatives who wondered how the board would be prepared to award a contract when it doesn't know yet whether it can finance the purchase of the carts.
Some of the bidders included pricing both with and without their providing the carts, but others just bid for the hauling, assuming that the board would acquire the carts.
The apparent low bidder on the cost-side of the evaluation equation is NeW Solutions - an independent Tulsa firm that did not bid to provide the carts at all
Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=593&articleid=20111201_11_A1_Tulsas110509
The "Talk Trash Tulsa" checkbox site is good, but there's an error. The third item, "Free recycling available for everyone, with no sorting required." is not available right now. To participate in the curbside program, it's a $2/mo charge. However, recycling is free for everyone to drop off at all the MET recycling centers (even then, it has to be sorted). If that was the intention of the bullet, I'd change the wording.
This whole trash thing will be something other cities study when they are planning a change, so that they can avoid the backlash this one will create.
I won't be surprised if this fiasco winds up on "60 Minutes" before it is all said and done.
How many people commenting positively on this change live in the portion of Tulsa that already has cart service?
I have (when I am in town using it) cart service and it has always been reliable. better then the trash service I got in east Tulsa with a contractor and twice a week pickup..
Quote from: godboko71 on December 01, 2011, 06:09:49 PM
I have (when I am in town using it) cart service and it has always been reliable. better then the trash service I got in east Tulsa with a contractor and twice a week pickup..
Looking forward to the switch, as my grandmother lived near Gilcrease Hills (cart based once a week service) and I currently live in East Tulsa (twice a week trash, every other week recycle). The cart system was so much easier.
I'm in favor. Thanks to recycling and composting, I don't even generate a full 30 gallon can of waste a week. There are times I may only have to roll the can to the curb every other week. The big container would be overkill for me, but if I can pay less for sending less waste to the dump, I'm in favor.
Quote from: Conan71 on December 01, 2011, 06:59:56 PM
I'm in favor. Thanks to recycling and composting, I don't even generate a full 30 gallon can of waste a week. There are times I may only have to roll the can to the curb every other week. The big container would be overkill for me, but if I can pay less for sending less waste to the dump, I'm in favor.
The present system works well for me, but that's because we hardly use any water. There are weeks I have a ridiculous amount of trash (non-recyclable packing materials are not something I appreciate), so it's nice to be able to set out a crap ton if I have to. I end up rolling the can out there around 3 times a month most of the time. On the bright side, I don't have to drive to Sand Springs to get rid of my cardboard anymore, so at least I get something in return.
Quote from: nathanm on December 01, 2011, 07:07:58 PM
The present system works well for me, but that's because we hardly use any water.
Not big bathers, eh Nathan?
Quote from: Conan71 on December 01, 2011, 07:10:49 PM
Not big bathers, eh Nathan?
Bite your tongue. Being from Arkansas doesn't make me some sort of dirty swine.
Seriously, it's just two of us and between the low flow shower heads and our water efficient appliances it's hard to use much. The clothes washer uses 10 gallons or so for a full load, rather than the 50 gallons a regular one uses. The dishwasher uses 5ish unless the dishes are really nasty.
I live in the "NW Quadrant" and love the cart service. I didn't mind the other service when I lived in midtown, but I prefer the cart and will enjoy the additional recycling opportunities.
Having lived in other cities that switched to a cart based system years ago I was surprised when I moved to Tulsa and learned I had to go get a trash can.
Quote from: rdj on December 02, 2011, 09:45:06 AM
I had to go get a trash can.
Yeah, what the hell am I supposed to do with mine? ;)
Quote from: nathanm on December 01, 2011, 07:29:01 PM
Bite your tongue. Being from Arkansas doesn't make me some sort of dirty swine.
(http://www.sportsblink.com/product_images/arkansas-razorbacks-traditions-pennant-3323968.jpg)
Touché
Quote from: cannon_fodder on December 02, 2011, 06:35:57 PM
(http://www.sportsblink.com/product_images/arkansas-razorbacks-traditions-pennant-3323968.jpg)
Actually pigs are not filthy. The mud wallow thing is misinterpreted.
"Pigs are filthy animals, they sleep and root in their own sh!t..."
Quote from: Conan71 on December 03, 2011, 10:21:54 AM
"Pigs are filthy animals, they sleep and root in their own sh!t..."
Wild pigs too? I thought I'd heard differently but I could be wrong on this one.
TWO POINTS I NEED RESOLVED BEFORE SUPPORTING THIS:
CNG VEHICLESI definitely want prices to remain stable but find issue with the CNG vehicle movement. Reason being, CNG is not necessarily 'cleaner' than diesel, is definitely not more efficient and while the industry is heavily regulated, does cause environmental damage when obtained, refined and transported.
A new fleet of trucks will be purchased and that purchase will be subsidized but only for the first purchase. After that, they're full price and the cost will be passed to us. A fueling station will have to be built for the trucks. Where will it be built? What happens if it's built in-town and there's leak? Natural gas is considered highly volatile (diesel considered moderately volatile) and CNG/LNG can become a cloud of highly flammable vapors if leakage occurs. But, if the station isn't built near town, the trucks will burn much of the fuel travelling to the pickups. Will this mean more CNG trucks than diesel will have to be bought to manage the fuel inefficiency? What about the size of the fuel tanks? Will they be so large in order to go the same distance as the diesel trucks that the volume of trash held by each truck decreases?
Why not use drop-in fuels for the diesel trucks we already have? Why not use clean diesel? We have bio-fuel companies here in NE OK, who contract with the government, why not look into those? They can be used as drop in fuels. So can propane - its cheap too.
Why switch completely off one system when we could enjoy the benefits of using a variable of fuels?
www.hsph.harvard.edu/Organizations/hcra/diesel/diesel.pdf - its some information on Natural Gas versus Diesel as fuels.
What if EPA standards change in regards to Natural Gas? Will we have spent all this capital on building infrastructure and new fleet only to be wasted or become more expensive to adhere to regulations?
ONCE A WEEK PICKUP PROBLEMS
It gets very hot in the summer. Will that mean my trash is going to bake for a week? That's going to stink. I realize the containers will have lids but raccoons, opossum, dogs and cats can still manage to get in these. Will all that sitting trash attract more pests? Like rats?
If I buy the smallest container but have a little extra to throw out, will there also be different sizes of bags I can buy? Why would I want to pay for 'one size fits all' bags if I only fill the lower third of the bag?
Just needing some more info here - I frankly don't understand where the numbers are coming from, especially in regards to switching to CNG.
CNG is going to be a huge problem. I don't know why the city is intent on converting all the fleet to gas but I can only guess it has something to do with Oneok or a really short sighted analysis of cost. All one needs to do is contact the lower to middle level employees of current CNG powered fleets. For large vehicles, its a failure. The mileage is not better, especially in winter when long warmup times are necessary or the vehicles stall. Conversion of existing vehicles is expensive and problem prone. Vehicles designed from scratch are better but still no advantage in mileage or reliability. Diesel vehicles are superior in almost all categories...reliability, longevity, performance, mileage and safety. They only do poorly in availability of fuel (though good luck finding a CNG pump easily)and cost per gallon but that is not enough to make up for the negatives. You are limited to filling up at your base location which usually has only one pumping system that is expensive to maintain and repair. It takes a long time to build up enough pressure to fill your tanks. Hear me now and listen later. ;)
As far as the once a week pickup, I often neglect to get mine out in time and find that it has little impact on smell. But then we try to make sure there isn't any really messy stuff in the can since it attracts dogs, cats and coons.
One a week is fine for us we already have it and hardly fill the bin once a month.
Quote from: godboko71 on January 22, 2012, 03:42:21 PM
One a week is fine for us we already have it and hardly fill the bin once a month.
Ditto.
I've lived in Jenks (which has the once a week bin) for 10 years and think it's great.
I often go several weeks without wheeling the bin to the curb.
Certainly never had an issue with any stink or critters.
Haven't been following the hubbub with trash service too closley, but apparently there's a lot of opposition to the once a week bin service. Simply fear of the unknown if you ask me. or FUD coming from the current provider.
Quote from: BKDotCom on January 22, 2012, 03:51:34 PM
Ditto.
I've lived in Jenks (which has the once a week bin) for 10 years and think it's great.
I often go several weeks without wheeling the bin to the curb.
Certainly never had an issue with any stink or critters.
Haven't been following the hubbub with trash service too closley, but apparently there's a lot of opposition to the once a week bin service. Simply fear of the unknown if you ask me. or FUD coming from the current provider.
This
Part of Tulsa already has once a week service. You don't hear the outcry there, do you?
This is an important week for this issue. It appears there is a resolution in a lawsuit that postponed awarding contracts that was scheduled for Monday. TARE has posted an emergency meeting for tomorrow morning to appearantly award contract to low bidder and the City Council has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday morning to appearantly approve moving forward on having the city purchase the carts.
So a commercial I saw this morning on NBC stated that we'd have the choice of once or twice weekly pickup and numerous recycle choices along with the can sizes.
How are they doing the "you can choose between once or twice a week" thing?
Quote from: Townsend on February 07, 2012, 01:19:59 PM
So a commercial I saw this morning on NBC stated that we'd have the choice of once or twice weekly pickup and numerous recycle choices along with the can sizes.
How are they doing the "you can choose between once or twice a week" thing?
They're charging extra for twice a week service; once a week is standard service, from my understanding.
Quote from: Hoss on February 07, 2012, 01:44:43 PM
They're charging extra for twice a week service; once a week is standard service, from my understanding.
So my neighbor can get an extra day a week and the guys on route are supposed to track this? What if only three people in my entire hood want twice a week? They still come in and grab that trash? It's a big neighborhood.
Quote from: Townsend on February 07, 2012, 01:47:32 PM
So my neighbor can get an extra day a week and the guys on route are supposed to track this? What if only three people in my entire hood want twice a week? They still come in and grab that trash? It's a big neighborhood.
Hey, I ain't the logistics dude for this, I just report!
;D
Quote from: Townsend on February 07, 2012, 01:47:32 PM
So my neighbor can get an extra day a week and the guys on route are supposed to track this? What if only three people in my entire hood want twice a week? They still come in and grab that trash? It's a big neighborhood.
I suspect they will use a curb "tag" just like they do to denote "backyard" service. I believe it's a red spray paint spot for BY service.
Quote from: Townsend on February 07, 2012, 01:47:32 PM
So my neighbor can get an extra day a week and the guys on route are supposed to track this? What if only three people in my entire hood want twice a week? They still come in and grab that trash? It's a big neighborhood.
99% of residents will choose the once per week pickup due to price and then 50% of those will gripe about only having once per week pickup.
Quote from: carltonplace on February 07, 2012, 02:48:37 PM
99% of residents will choose the once per week pickup due to price and then 50% of those will gripe about only having once per week pickup.
Those will be the family of eight with five 30 gallon trash bags heaped on their over-stuffed cart every week.
Quote from: carltonplace on February 07, 2012, 02:48:37 PM
99% of residents will choose the once per week pickup due to price and then 50% of those will gripe about only having once per week pickup.
So true.