The Aurora City Council has approved an extension of its waste collection contract with Groot Industries, Inc. for refuse, recyclables and yard waste.
Aldermen approved a 10-year contract with Groot, although the second five-year period is dependent on the waste hauler siting, building and operating a transfer station in Aurora.
Groot has been negotiating with city officials for the extension – an amendment of the current contract that was due to expire in June 2022 – since 2018.
The first part of the extension would run from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2027. The second would run from July 1, 2027, through June 30, 2032. But the second part is contingent on Groot siting, building and operating a municipal waste transfer station in Aurora before July 1, 2026.
The proposed amendment maintains all of the current programs, and also includes enhancements negotiated to improve resident services, contain costs and enhance program revenues, according to Alex Alexandrou, Aurora’s chief management officer.
The refuse and yard waste sticker will stay at $2.75 for the duration of the contract. The 14-gallon Senior Bag will stay $1.70 for the duration of the contract.
Starting in 2022, there will be no charge to the city for the two-week Spring Clean Up, which represents a savings of $50,000 a year. Also, the free yard waste pickup program will be extended from Nov. 30 to Dec. 15 every year.
The cart movement fee stays fixed at $30 throughout the contract.
Once the extension period begins in 2022, residents will have 60 days to switch their level of service at no cost. This extension provides the city and Groot time to educate residents on the program so they can make an informed decision, officials have said.
The annual rate adjustments will be frozen from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, and again from July 1, 2029, to June 30, 2030. During the remaining years, the rate increase will be fixed at 2.5% a year.
There also will be a clause that gives the city the ability to review the contract terms compared to other municipalities.
Alexandrou said over the life of the contract, the city would be paid about $7.18 million. That includes Groot paying a franchise fee and property taxes, and a host agreement for the transfer station.
In 2014, the city entered into a seven-year waste management contract with Allied Waste Services of North America, LLC, which did business in Aurora as Republic Services of Aurora.
It was in that contract that the city did away with stickers on individual garbage bags and went to the carts.
The 2014 agreement carried in it an option for Republic to assign its trash collection routes, as part of an exchange, to another competing business. Republic assigned its Aurora contract to Groot.
