Twp. provides dedicated waste contact number for garbage questions, issues

By Jim Newell

Review Editor

As it has for the more than a year, the township was talking garbage on Monday, with township officials providing updates on the transition plan to a single waste hauler beginning Jan. 2.

Samantha Timko, chief assistant to the supervisor, has been at the forefront of coordinating transition information and answering residents’ questions and concerns.

“Starting next week, carts will start being delivered to the households across the township. As long as the weather isn’t too wintry, carts are expected to be delivered Dec. 10-20,” Timko said. “Residents who have requested additional carts, those will go out after that initial cart rollout.”

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Supervisor Chris Barnett said the township received around 200 voicemail messages questioning the transition process.

“I’m surprised that there are many, many people that had no idea this was even going on, even though we’ve been discussing it for several years, it seems like,” said resident Lillian Hutchison.

“You know what, we’re not the first community that’s done this. So, we know, because we’ve interviewed and talked to all of the other communities that have done this, at least in our area, that everything is going exactly like we knew it would,” said township Supervisor Chris Barnett. “We knew we’d get a lot of calls, questions and concerns.”

The township awarded the bid to Green For Life Environmental for solid waste collection services during its Aug. 5 board meeting. GFL will handle township residents’ garbage, recycling and yard waste.

“We have about 24,000, 25,000 carts that are going to be delivered over those next two weeks, so we’re going to get those carts out first and then go out with any additional carts people have requested,” Timko said.

All residents will receive a 95-gallon garbage cart and a 64-gallon recycling cart, unless they have requested a smaller garbage cart or a larger recycling cart.

Residents who missed the Nov. 19 deadline to pre-request a cart size can still do so and will have February and March to swap their carts for free, Timko said. So far, 1,600 residents have requested a cart size change.

After March, there is a $100 fee to switch cart sizes, according to the township’s newsletter informing residents of the garbage transition program. Carts are assigned to each individual property and will have a serial number coded to each address upon delivery.

Additional carts are available for a one-time fee: 95-gallon carts are $85, 64-gallon carts are $75. Residents’ quarterly/annual rate will remain the same regardless of how many carts they have, according to the township.

The new garbage trucks have automatic arms to lift the garbage and recycling carts, so residents should place their carts as close to the curb as possible, Timko said.

“While the goal is that the trucks should be able to just grab it and lift it, if the driver does need to get out and adjust (carts) because of weather conditions or to accommodate space constraints they are able to do so,” she said.

GFL representative contact number

Orion Township will also have a representative from GFL at township hall for four months to field phone calls and walk-ins.

“To help with any billing questions, if you have cart requests, to apply for discounts, or (if anyone has) service issues starting in January,” Timko said.

To contact the GFL representative at Orion Township Hall, call 248-391-0304 ext. 1006.

Waste fees

A discount of up to five percent is available for senior citizens (age 65 or older) and veterans. Those who apply will have to show proof of age, residency and veteran status.

“So far, we’ve had 975 residents come into township hall to apply for a senior or veteran discount. There is no deadline to apply for those discounts. Residents can come in apply for that throughout the year,” Timko said.

Residents can also enroll in auto-pay, electronic payment and annual payment plans and receive a three percent discount off their bill. To enroll online, go to GFLUSA.com.

The maximum discount for any resident is five percent, according to the township single hauler newsletter.

A list of costs published by the township would have residents paying, before discounts, $52.06 when billed quarterly; or $208.24 under an annual prepay option for the first year of the five-year contract with GFL.

In the final year of the agreement, 2024, residents would pay $58.79 per quarter.

GFL sends out bills two weeks before the quarter, so residents will begin receiving their first bills in mid-December, Timko said.

Garbage and recycling service days will be delayed one day the first week of January because of the New Year holiday. Residents should have received information by mail informing them about their garbage pick-up day.

The new solid waste program includes unlimited yard waste collection from April 1 through Dec. 15, Recycling Rewards with Recyclebank and improved customer service, according to township officials.

For more information on Recycling Rewards, visit recyclebank.com.

Barnett said he is hopeful that when people see that their garbage is getting picked up that their concerns “will slowly die down.”

“Hopefully, in a quarter (three months) or so, we won’t be talking about garbage anymore, like we have for the last year-and-a-half,” Barnett said.