Residents may start seeing different garbage cans and unfamiliar trucks in the coming months as the City of Meridian works to transition to a new garbage contracts with Waste Pro for residential pickup and JWC Environmental for dumpsters.

In a meeting last week, the city council heard from Scott Phillips of Waggoner Engineering, who had helped the city review garbage service proposals and select the best one. Phillips said a meeting with garbage service companies was held May 15 to outline what the city wanted and how bids should be submitted.

“We had five providers show up to that mandatory pre-bid meeting, and all of them proposed, which is a good thing,” he said.

Of the five companies that submitted bids, Phillips said Arrow Disposal Service as immediately eliminated because they were most expensive. Pelican Waste and Debris’s bid was also rejected because of issues with contractor bonding.

A third company, JWC Environmental, submitted the lowest and best bid for dumpsters and roll-off containers but did not bid for curbside pickup, Phillips said. That left Waste Management and Waste Pro as contenders for the city’s residential garbage service, debris pickup and recycling.

After weighing the options, Phillips said the solid waste committee recommended the proposal from Waste Pro. The contract would include once-per-week pickup of a Waste Pro container, plus one additional container or bag from each home. For debris, the contract would include a four month “leaf season” where Waste Pro would pick up yard debris and other bulky items in addition to the trash.

The cost for the Waste Pro contract would be $18.58 per month, Phillips said, and would not include recycling. The city will, however, reserve the right to add recycling at a later time, he said.

“This may not be the best time to go into recycling,” he said. “The market is hard right now because fuel and other things have driven it up.”

Adding recycling to the city’s garbage contract would cost about $750,000 per year, Phillips said, with each resident paying an additional $5 per month on their garbage bill.

Councilman George Thomas, who was a member of the solid waste committee, said he wanted to have recycling but thought the price would be too much of a burden on residents.

“I’m in favor of recycling, but for us to recycle we’d have to add $5 to the price,” he said.

With the residents currently paying $11.40 since for garbage pickup, Thomas said recycling would mean residents’ bills would more than double.

“It’d be more than double what we’re charging now to add recycling,” he said. “Recycling is the right thing to do, but the question is, can we afford it.”

The other thing to keep in mind, Phillips said, is the price’s were for garbage pickup only. The city has a separate contract with Waste Management to dump garbage at the Pine Ridge landfill, which residents also pay for on their garbage bills.

Under the city’s current contract, garbage pickup costs $11.40, but with disposal and administrative fees on top, the average bill is about $16.40, he said. Under the Waste Pro contract, at $18.58 per month for pickup, residents’ bills will likely be about $20 per month.

The new contract is set to go into effect Oct. 1, Phillips said. In the meantime the city and Waste Pro will work to develop garbage routes, distribute garbage plans and educate residents on changes to what they can and cannot put on the curb.