Get ready to see more brown Pellitteri trucks in your neighborhood after Jan. 1.
Following extensive discussion, members of the Sun Prairie City Council's Committee of the Whole voted Sept. 6 to back city implementation of weekly recycling with Pellitteri Waste Systems, but nixed a five-year contract extension with the company.
The weekly service will add $15 per year per household effective Jan. 1.
The City of Sun Prairie currently charges $75 per year for trash pickup and $48 per year for recycling pickup, which totals to $123 per year for each household. The additional $15 fee covers the contract costs associated with Pellitteri’s services and provides additional revenue to fund yard waste and brush pickup and Sun Prairie Recycle Center operations.
Members of the Sun Prairie Public Works Committee in August voted to recommend the change to the city council.
To fund the change, the city will implement a Recycling Fee increase of $15, which would bring the total Refuse & Recycling Fee up to $138 per year for residents.
A memo to alders from Management Analyst Lauren Freeman indicated the fee was last raised in 2017 by $8 from $115 to $123.
City staffers also recommended extending Pellitteri’s contract by five years to a total 10-year contract. Both staff and a company representative said the contract extension would lock in lower prices and ensure continuity of services over the contract's decade term.
The Sustainability Committee reviewed the weekly recycling option at its July 21, 2022 meeting and recommended moving forward. The Public Works Committee reviewed this proposal at its Aug. 16, 2022 meeting and recommended moving forward with weekly recycling, the 10-year contract, and the $15 fee increase.
Both staff and the company representative recommended moving to weekly recycling because the City of Sun Prairie has a lower rate than four other communities served by the company.
Pellitteri provides weekly recycling to Oregon, Middleton, Waunakee, and McFarland. According to Pellitteri’s 2021 data, these communities have a 31.1% average recycling rate, while Sun Prairie has a 24.9% recycling rate.
Both city staff and the company representative speculated on the causes -- from environmental indifference or not understanding how to separate refuse from recyclables, to lack of space in recycling containers resulting in placing recycling with refuse.
There seemed to be a difference of opinion in District 1.
Alders Steve Stocker and Terry McIlroy gave different views of constituent contacts about the weekly recycling issue -- with Stocker saying only one resident favored it while McIlroy said she had been contacted by many residents who wanted the weekly pick-up.
Sustainability Committee Chair and District 3 Alder Mike Jacobs said the additional service to help the environment was a no-brainer for him and said he would vote to approve.
Some alders switched their opinion about extending the contract, saying that Sun Prairie could receive multiple bids from other companies to provide the service for the same or lower cost in five years.
The final proposal must be given final approval by the Sun Prairie City Council in order for the weekly Pellitteri recycling service to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2023.