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The Edwardsville City Council is moving forward with a plan to provide curbside recycling for residents next year.

After conducting a pilot program through Deffenbaugh Industries, a subsidiary of Waste Management, in the fall in both residential and rural areas of the city with positive feedback, the council Monday directed city staff to move forward with creation of a five year contract for trash and recycling services. Some council members expressed an interest to begin the process of providing commercial service as well if it would reduce residential costs, but the state-required process to begin such a service will take about two years.

The city currently provides only residential garbage pick up at a monthly rate of $12.95. The new service would provide residents with a 95-gallon or smaller trash container and a 65-gallon recycling container. Yard waste would have to be placed inside of the trash container; trash that does not fit into the container wouldn’t be hauled away. Residents can request removal of a large item for an additional cost.

However, residents would be able to recycle as much as they want. Recycling that doesn’t fit in the provided bin could be placed in a box or another container marked “recycling.”

The five-year contract would increase rates to $14.40 per month with an annual increase 1.5 percent. The city and Deffenbaugh looked at an eight-year contract, which would start at $13.26 monthly but increase 80 cents annually, leading to higher rates in year five than in the five-year contract.

Comparitively, Bonner Springs currently charges $14.50 a month with recycling totes, while the monthly costs are $15.25 in Kansas City, Kan., and $15.18 in De Soto.

Currently, businesses in Edwardsville determine their own trash hauler. Providing a commercial trash service for city businesses will require the city to go through a bidding process and post public notices to all area trash haulers, and the state requires certain waiting periods that make the entire process take about two years. The city would only realize a reduced cost for residential customers if Deffenbaugh had the lowest bid, city officials said, and businesses’ rates likely would increase.

Still, the council asked staff to bring back more information about adding a commercial service, including the total number of businesses in Edwardsville.

In other business, the council approved an ordinance extending council terms to comply with the state’s new November election requirement and change requirements for filing by petition to run for city office.

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