PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Tuesday is an election day in Michigan, and Kalamazoo area polls will have a number of items on ballots around the county, for those of you who haven’t voted absentee.
The most controversial has been the contentious issue over who will conduct trash pickups in Portage.
It’s a citizen-initiated referendum on the city council’s decision to go with a single hauler, instead of the previous system, which allowed several haulers to serve the city.
The council claimed haulers were gouging customers, and that this system is less expensive for homeowners and more efficient.
Mayor Pro-Tem Jim Pearson says it’s already saving him money.
Councilmember Vic Ledbetter says with costs for just about everything else going up, he says he is hearing from a lot of people who say they are glad to see some savings.
City officials say they aren’t quite sure what will happen if voters toss out the single hauler plan but councilmember Nichole Miller says it could eliminate their popular recycling program as well as bulk waste and yard waste pick-ups, which have been provided by a single hauler for years.
Resident Rick Weilopolski urged voters to read the measure carefully, and make sure they vote.
The new service with Waste Disposal is already in operation.
Backers of the referendum say it should be their choice of who picks up their trash.
Most communities in Michigan have already adopted single hauler trash systems, and others are considering it.
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