When Geary City Council met Thursday in regular session, it was at an irregular time, 3 p.m. That change was to accommodate the homecoming bonfire that evening, as several council members had children involved in homecoming.
The council heard a presentation from Blue Mark Energy, from whom the city purchases natural gas. It is time to set the contract for the coming year, but the contract year isn’t in sync with the city’s fiscal year, and councilmember Rocky Coleman wanted to change that. The fiscal year runs from July 1 each year to June 30 of the next year. The gas contract had been drawn in previous years from fall to fall in keeping with the need for gas.
“We need to do this so we can budget better,” Coleman said. The contract doesn’t set the price for the heating fuel, but binds Geary to Blue Mark for its purchases. The contract was negotiated for six months – beginning when the current contract expires in January, allowing the next yearly contract to be entered into at the beginning of the fiscal year, early July.
Veterans Waste Solutions also made a presentation to the city concerning garbage pickup. That company said it could collect the poly carts around town once a week and reduce the costs to the average household from $27.50 to $15. If a household wants an additional poly cart, the charge is an additional $8, still below the city trash charge.
Council pointed out this is a discussion, and that should the decision be made to go with an outsource garbage collection, the people currently in the garbage department would not lose their jobs but be out to work in another department.
Commercial pickup charges would remain the same. All garbage pickups would be streetside, with the use of private household dumpsters in alleys eliminated. Veterans Waste will buy back the existing poly carts that are viable and provide residents with new ones. They may also purchase dumpsters, depending on the condition.
Additionally the company would purchase the city’s equipment, with the proceeds to the city spread out over five years. The city is considering keeping one of the trucks for local pickups if needed. Council member Sandra Cleveland said she would like to see the contract between Veterans and another small town. It currently services 23 small towns, including Hinton and Watonga.
The semiannual bulk waste collection would still be held for furniture and other items the trash service would not collect.
“If it will clean up the town, it is very worthwhile,” Coleman said.
The discussion wound down with Mayor Waylan Upchego saying he, too, would like to see a contract. He plans to have a few town hall meetings so that residents can discuss the idea and offer their opinions on the matter. Then the question could be placed on the city council agenda in the future and the matter be decided by vote of members.