Waste Services Changing For Nine Alpharetta Neighborhoods

ALPHARETTA, GA — Residents in nine Alpharetta neighborhoods will see the weekly schedule for collection of their trash, recyclables, and yard waste change beginning the week of March 15. The change is being made as Republic Services, the City of Alpharetta’s waste services provider, removes the locations from their regular route and begins servicing them with a separate, smaller vehicle.

“Several neighborhoods in Downtown Alpharetta have been developed with narrow streets and wide sidewalks to create a pedestrian-focused environment that places less emphasis on automobiles,” Alpharetta’s Assistant City Administrator James Drinkard said. “That design poses challenges for the standard trash and recycling trucks that are used to serve the suburban, cul-de-sac neighborhoods that are the predominate form in the community. To better serve our citizens in the more compact neighborhoods, Republic will shift to using a much smaller vehicle in those areas.”

The affected neighborhoods are:

• Avalon
• Canton Street Commons
• East of Main (excluding Belle Isle Drive)
• Folia Old Milton
• Foundry
• Georgia at the Garden District
• Rowes Downtown
• The Maxwell
• Voysey

Seventeen “stand alone” addresses will also be affected.

Additionally, during their March 1 meeting, the Alpharetta City Council will be asked to consider soliciting proposals from sanitation companies interested in providing trash, recycling, and yard waste collection services to the city’s nearly 24,000 residences. The contract with the current provider is set to expire on March 31.

The city has contracted its residential solid waste collection services to Republic Services (formerly operating as BFI) since December 1999, with the original contract being modified six times since its original adoption. The company has now notified Alpharetta that it is unable to continue providing the services without increasing the rates it charges by 25 percent.

“Our research into the rates for solid waste collection in surrounding communities does indicate, to some degree, that the rates Republic Services is currently charging our residents may be below market,” Alpharetta’s Finance Director Tom Harris said. “Still, we have a responsibility to our residents to get the best value, that is the best combination of service quality and cost, possible. The best way to do that is for us to seek bids on the open market so that the providers have to compete for our business.”

While the city’s contract with Republic Services does allow for annual rate increases, the company has rarely exercised that right. Now, however, company executives indicate that escalating costs related to fast growing tipping fees, COVID-19 safety measures, and other market conditions combined with reduced revenue from recyclable materials makes it impossible for them to keep providing service to Alpharetta residents without the significant rate increase.

City staff is preparing the request for proposals but is advising city council that a temporary extension of the contract with Republic Services will be necessary to ensure residents have uninterrupted service during the bidding process and while a new service provider, if a new vendor wins the bid, deploys resources. As recommended, the contract would be extended for a maximum period of one year; however, the city could cancel the contract at any time with a sixty-day notice.

“Unfortunately, the extension of the contract will come with an increase in the rates our residents pay for solid waste collection services,” Harris said.

If the temporary contract extension is approved, the new monthly rates would become effective April 1.

The Alpharetta City Council will consider the issue during its March 1 regular meeting, which will be held at Alpharetta City Hall at 6:30 p.m. In-person seating is limited due to COVID-19 safety protocols. The public can also watch the meeting live on YouTube and the City of Alpharetta's website.