Commission Moving Forward With Bringing Trash Collection In-House

bhcityhall2-29
bhcityhall2-29

Benton Harbor City Commissioners are moving forward with bringing trash collection in-house. The city in the past has hired contractors to pick up trash, but this year the commission voted to make it a municipal operation. During a Wednesday meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of trash bins for residents at a cost of $142,000. This is the first step as the city establishes a Sanitation Division. Commissioner Mary Alice Adams was pleased to see the ball get rolling.

“This has been a long time coming,” Adams said. “I can’t stress enough how tired I am of Benton Harbor just outsourcing themselves as a city.”

Concerns were expressed by the city attorney regarding how the purchase of the 2,700 bins was handled, but Commissioner Ron Singleton, who has led the trash collection effort, said best practices were followed. The bins from Rehrig Pacific have chips in them so they can be tracked. The next step will be for the city to hire some staff and to purchase trucks. The goal is to have in-house trash collection up and running by October 1.