At its July 11 meeting, the Washington Parish School Board voted to award its garbage collection contract for the next school year to Stranco.
The wasn’t a routine item of business. Stranco’s proposal was actually more expensive than the proposal submitted by the current garbage collection contract holder, AmWaste.
Yet the school board selected the higher-priced proposal. And it was a completely legal action, because the garbage contract is awarded via proposal, not bid.
There was a good reason why the school board did not select AmWaste, the low bidder. The school system’s previous experience with AmWaste was not a good one. Garbage was not collected on a timely basis. This is a particular concern for school cafeteria waste: Food items simply cannot be left in dumpsters or other trash containers for very long. They must be collected on a timely basis.
The school board selected the higher priced contract because of its actual poor experience with the company submitting the lower priced contract.
This was a prudent and proper move by the school board. Garbage, and especially food waste, must be collected on the agreed upon schedule. It is not just about the inconvenience. Cafeteria waste collects insects and rodents ---- this is a safety issue for the students of Washington Parish.
Thank you, School Board members!
And while we are on the subject of AmWaste: The Era-Leader has received several complaints concerning AmWaste’s trash collection in the town of Franklinton.
The complaints don’t refer to the trash collection schedule. Instead, it is that the AmWaste trash collectors don’t close the rolling garbage container lids once the trash is collected. With the lids left open, the trash containers collect water when it rains, unless residents are present and able to close the lids themselves before it rains.
We would guess that AmWaste trash collectors leave the lids open as an efficiency measure, allowing the trash collection effort to move more quickly.
We tested this theory. Lo and behold, we discovered that it takes less than 2 seconds to close one of the rolling trash containers. To close the lid and then swing the container neatly back into place takes 3 seconds.
With approximately 1,400 households in Franklinton, those 2 or 3 seconds don’t add up to much extra total time for in-town residences.
This is not a major problem --- it seems easily solvable. When the Franklinton Mayor and Council next award the trash collection contract, they should insist that trash containers be closed after trash is collected.
