City Council bags waste proposals for next meeting

JACKSON, Tenn. — City Council members talk trash at the first meeting of 2016. They had planned to vote on who will be collecting garbage when a contract either renews for Waste Management or begins for Red River Waste Solutions.

Neither company would take an additional chunk out of taxpayers’ wallets.

“We are committed as a city council to keeping those rates the same,” Councilwoman Dr. Vicky Foote said. “We would like to even lower them at some point, but they’re definitely not going up.”

Red River would cost the city about $3 million less over a five-year period, but those savings couldn’t be put toward other budgetary needs. The council did hear from both companies even though a 5-to-4 vote tabled the decision.

Although there were no official decisions made on who would be picking up trash in the city of Jackson, council members did vote on some other decisions including new guns for the police department and a new tower for central dispatch.

“The proposal is for a 20-year-old plus system the city is currently using that has been hit majorly with lightning damage,” Lanonda Jernigan with Jackson Central Dispatch said.

Last summer, the tower was struck by lightning and the damage was so bad the already old system needed an overhaul.

Insurance provided the city $2 million to fix it, and they’ll receive more funds for construction once it’s completed. In up to eight months, all dispatch systems across the city will operate in a digital format.

Jackson police can now purchase more shotguns, rifles and in-car systems, saying the equipment is outdated. Just shy of $300,000, this money will come from the city’s fund balance.

The council plans to vote in February on the solid waste contract.