Cities have different ways of handling trash
Staff writer
As Marion looks into privatizing trash service, questions remain.
Nisly Brothers Inc. of Hutchinson, the trash contractor for Peabody and several other communities in Harvey County and others, approached Marion officials about privatizing a few weeks ago.
Hillsboro and Marion hand trash pickups themselves.
Nisly and Hillsboro use trash trucks with an arm to pick up trash containers.
“These are standard dumpsters,” Nisly representative Merrill Yoder said.
“You see them everywhere. The trash trucks require a lot of maintenance.”
Most of the trucks have to be replaced every seven years. Several are older than five years.
“Some, we buy new, but they are not all new trucks,” he said.
Nisly’s operation involves pickup, not recycling. It bills cities for pickup, and the cities in turn charge residents.
Hillsboro has used two trash trucks with scorpion arms to grab poly carts and commercial dumpsters for several years.
The city employs two people in its refuse department, with one doing commercial pickups in the early morning, and the other picking up trash from homes, city administrator Matt Stiles said.
Since only one employee is needed to operate Hillsboro’s trash truck, the cost for labor is less, Stiles said.
The city is split into three sections for commercial and residential pickup. Recycling is picked up every other week.
“It’s safer and faster,” he said. “Overall, it’s very successful.”
Hillsboro is not able to pick up larger items during regular pickups, so the city, usually on the last Friday of the month, picks up bulkier items for an additional charge.
Poly carts for both trash and recycling are 96-gallon containers.
Marion has two trash trucks and a spare rarely used with two employees in the department.
Because trucks do not have scorpion arms, one employee drives and the other loads trash into the truck, city administrator Brian Wells said.
This allows workers to pick up items outside the trash containers.
The city’s trash trucks are on the older side and need to be replaced soon. Ones with scorpion arms might not work in Marion, he said.
A lot of trash containers are in narrow alleys. A truck with an arm could have problems, Wells said.
Wells also added these trucks weigh a lot more than what the city uses and could harm streets.