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AmWaste was selected to replace C&C Sanitation effective July 1 during a Tuesday special called meeting of the West Point City Council. During the meeting, which was held via teleconference, the council voted unanimously to enter into a new contract with AmWaste.

Public Works Director Mike Criddle said the city put out a request for proposal in an effort to improve the city’s sanitation service collections. An RFP request was submitted to six qualified vendors in the area, and three returned bid packets. Of the three, one decided not to bid, the other was incomplete. Only one properly completed the bid packet.

There will be no change in sanitation costs to the residents of West Point. For commercial customers, there may be a slight rise in costs depending upon the type of frequency that is chosen.

In addition to trash collection, AmWaste will also handle all customer issues directly via a separate phone number, deliver all carts and maintain carts. These tasks are currently handled by city personnel.

By July 1, new residential carts and recycling bins will be distributed to all West Point residents. All trash in West Point will now be collected on Fridays.

Customers who currently receive service at their door, the city has provided the addresses for the special collection service and they will continue.  For all others, please have your garbage cart and recycle bin on the curb no later than 7:00 a.m. of your collection day to ensure service.

Recycling collections will be done in two phases and collected every other Friday depending on which zone you live in. The city will have a map of the two zones posted on their website prior to the first day of collections.

Items collected for recycling will be transported to a materials recovery facility in Montgomery.

Prior to the special called meeting, the council conducted their work session. The discussion focused around the city’s weeds and grass ordinance. There is an ordinance currently in place, but, Mayor Trammel said they wanted to review it to make sure everyone on the council agreed with it.

Rick Sweeney, vice president of operations at AmWaste says the company is excited to have been awarded the contract in West Point.

“We are very excited and feel very fortunate to have earned the city’s confidence in the award of the commercial solid waste and residential solid waste and recycling services contract,” Sweeney said. “We believe this will be the start of a great partnership with the City of West Point. The Amwaste current service offering in Troup County has been limited to commercial front-load and industrial roll-off by the wholly-owned Amwaste subsidiary, LaGrange Sanitation Services.  However, we do provide residential service to the neighboring communities of Lanett, Valley and unincorporated Chambers County. In light of this, the opportunity to service the City of West Point is a great fit for existing operations.”

Also, up for discussion was the council member retirement benefits. As of April 1, 2005, the mayor and council were eligible to participate in the city’s retirement plan. In 2013, the mayor and council voted to discontinue participation in the plan, but Sandra Thornton and Joseph Downs are eligible since they are 60 or over and have been on the council for over 10 years.

The question before the council is whether or not they can draw from it while they are currently serving on the council.

City Clerk Richard McCoy has posed the question to GMA (Georgia Municipal Association) and is awaiting a response.

The Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG) is also requesting its members to enter into a new supplemental contract, gas supply portfolio V, that will replace portfolio IV which expires on Dec. 31.

According to City Manager Ed Moon, “the two differences between portfolio IV and portfolio V are the term that debt can be issued increased from 20 to 30 years and the total maximum dollar limit for debt is reduced from $1.5 billion to $1 billion. The benefit to the city is that MGAG, based on the large volume of gas needed by the 80-member systems, can purchase gas at a lower cost. “

The council will meet again Thursday, July 9 at 5:30 p.m.