Garbage agreement

On Tuesday (March 21), the Chico City Council voted 5-2 to direct City Attorney Vince Ewing to craft an ordinance allowing the city to enter into a waste-hauling franchise agreement that will mitigate wear and tear on Chico Streets, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and infuse city coffers with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Councilmen Karl Ory and Mark Sorensen dissented.

For years, the city has contracted with two waste-hauling companies—Recology and Waste Management—that compete for residential and commercial accounts. On Tuesday, Richard Tagore-Irvin (pictured), representing R3 Consulting Group, Inc., said “Chico may be the last city in California with an open market system.”

Under the new agreement, Waste Management will handle all residential accounts and split the commercial accounts with Recology. Together, the haulers will pay about $600,000 more in fees, which will go into the city’s general fund.

Pickup rates would not immediately change, though they could increase by 5 percent annually starting in July 2018.