City is out of dumpster hauling business

DESLOGE — Beginning July 1 commercial businesses and multi-family housing units will be on their own for trash pickup. The City of Desloge will be officially be out of the dumpster hauling business. The city will continue to offer trash pickup at no charge at single family residences.

“The city had to make this change for economic purposes,” said City Administrator Greg Camp. “By doing this we are hoping for a drastic decrease in our landfill fees. The City of Desloge is the landfill’s biggest customer, in terms of transfer fees. Our landfill fees exceeded the amount of revenue collected from real estate taxes last year.”

Camp said the city doesn’t want any of the affected parties taken by surprise by the change when it goes into effect the first of July.

“We have sent out direct mailings. It has been in the Desloge Sun and has been in the Daily Journal,” Camp said. “We have done everything we can to get the word out.”

He said businesses and multi-family apartment complexes and residences own the dumpsters that they currently use.

“The dumpsters belong to them,” he said. “Some of the other commercial waste haulers may be able to use them. There are several different commercial waste haulers in the area. We are not putting any restrictions on who can come into town and pick up trash.”

The board of aldermen voted in October to discontinue free trash service for multi-family and commercial customers. Prior to making the decision, the board considered continuing trash pickup for commercial customers for a charge. However, Camp said he estimated the city would have to charge an average of $85 per week per dumpster in order to break even. The figure was higher than most estimates he had gotten from outside commercial trash haulers for the same service.

Chris Cline is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at 573-431-2010, ext. 114 or at ccline@dailyjournalonline.com.