City council votes to move forward with new Waste Management contract

April 6, 2021

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

JACKSON, Tenn. — In a 6-1 vote Tuesday, the Jackson City Council decided to move forward with a new contract with Waste Management.

Councilman Ernest Brooks II was the only one to vote ‘no.’

“I thought that we should have looked at some other providers and given them the opportunity,” Brooks said. “I understand that was done through that process. I just differ in my final decision relative to that.”

The new contract — which outbid three others by a close margin — is expected to save the city $12 million over the course of five years.

But the previous contract with Waste Management was flagged by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.

“There were so many ambiguities in the contract,” said City of Jackson Mayor Scott Conger. “You look at the comptroller’s report. The synopsis of that is: it was a bad contract. That’s exactly what it was.”

The City of Jackson says they were previously picking up 80% of bulky waste because the contract they had with Waste Management was so vague. Now they’re picking up that extra 20% and Waste Management won’t be doing any of it.

“It’s on the city,” Councilman Paul Taylor said. “It’s on the city to manage that process. So if we’re overpaying for services we think our contractors should be doing, that’s on us to rectify that.”

To improve consistency, Waste Management will also no longer be doing back-door pickup. You’ll have to roll the garbage can to the road.

And the new contract changes the way inflation is factored into costs. That’s where they expect to save most of the money.

“We have to start managing our contracts better. It’s on the city, it’s on the mayor’s office, to really manage those contracts in a better way,” Taylor said.

“I think this is an opportunity for us to execute a correct contract and concise contract,” Mayor Conger said.

The contract is set to go into affect in August. The city says they will be releasing public service announcements to tell constituents about the changes and what they need to do.