Granger has begun its first fall as Albion’s single hauler waste management company; what’s different from the old system?
Previously, Albion’s leaf pickup was a four-to-five-week affair. Albion City Council divided the city into four sectors, and each sector would be serviced exclusively by a combination of city crews and hired seasonal workers for a week.
“I came on [to the city government] in 2014,” said City Manager Sheryl Mitchell “and it became quite apparent that that way of picking up leaves was very costly because it was very labor-intensive, and we couldn’t continue to do that going forward.”
In 2015, then-councilmember (now Mayor) Garrett Brown wanted the city to look at a single-hauler system, meaning that one company would handle both leaves and trash. After conducting studies in 2016, the mayor and council selected Granger Waste Management to be the city’s single-hauler for 2017 onward. Granger began servicing the city in March.
Under Granger, residents pay about $15 per quarter for hauling both trash and leaves, which is less than residents paid per quarter for trash service alone prior to the change in March. The new system provides residents a six-week period to deal with their leaves from October to November, offering leaf pick-up every Wednesday.
Of course, this system still has its imperfections. City resident Erica Flores mentioned at the September 18 City Council meeting that “Granger allows pickup of six bags of yard waste per week […] I doubt I can get the leaves of one of my trees into these six bags. What am I supposed to do with the leaves as they accumulate from week-to-week?”
An answer to Flores’ question comes in the form of “The Amazing Rake,” a joint volunteer program on November 5 between Albion College and Americorps Vista. During this event, local and student volunteers will assist in raking and bagging the leaves of residents with limited mobility.
Citizens who would like assistance can email Lauren Freeman at lfreeman.albionvista@gmail.com, and volunteers can email Pamela Schuler at pschuler@albion.edu, or Kate Frandsen at KMF15@albion.edu.
Photo by Kent Davis
Leave a Reply