ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Some residents in the City of Wildwood are up in arms over a new trash pick-up deal negotiated by city hall. They say their trash bills are higher and they’re not getting as good a service. Many didn’t like the process of picking the new companies.
Resident Kevin Dillard says there is a lot not to like about this deal: “If you look at the timeline for the process, it was bungled so badly. It’s like government by Barney Fife except Barney Fife is likeable.”
When the process started, the only company to bid on the deal ran into problems. The city demanded that there be penalties in the contract that would require the company to pay up if they missed pickups for example.
That could prove really expensive for the company. That bidder wouldn’t agree to that deal, so the bid was rejected as unresponsive.
Resident Tony Salvatore says two other companies that the city picked to replace that bidder got a different deal with no penalties. He says it is not a level playing field.
Investigator Elliott Davis questioned Wildwood Mayor Jim Bowlin. He asked why people are saying the penalty provision is not included.
“That is correct, and it’s because they wouldn’t agree to it,” said Mayor Jim Bowlin.
Davis then asked why they did not reissue the RFP if the penalty was eliminated.
“Because we didn’t need to do that because the only respondents we received were at the table already, and they all knew that,” said Mayor Jim Bowlin.
Mayor Bowlin admits it’s costing residents more but it is the best they could do under the circumstances. He says the deal was done completely above board with a lot of community input.
