The article that was headlined “Council Expected To Approve “Noncontroversial” purchase of Yard Waste Bins” on Wednesday, Dec. 27 has major mistake right there in the headline.
And, unfortunately, the mistake is repeated in the article, which many of our astute readers noted.
The headline and article state that the City Council was expected to approve $369,000 to “purchase” 75,000 yard waste bins. Simple division shows that the cost of the 95-gallon yard waste cans would be less than $5 each, or about the same as blended and frapped coffee.
The $369,000 is not for the purchase of the yard waste bins, but for their assembly and delivery, which the city decided to outsource to Shaefer Plastics North America LLC. The yard waste bins have to be assembled because they are shipped without the wheels and lids attached. So, the $369,000 contract that the City Council is expected to approve is to contract with Shaefer Plastics to put the wheels and lids on the yard waste bins and then deliver them to every residence in Greensboro. Plus, the delivery process involves matching the serial number of the bin to the address.
The actual cost of the yard waste bins is considerably more than $369,000. The cost to purchase the yard waste bins is $3,747,000. So the yard waste bins cost $49.96 apiece and then the city will spend another $4.92 apiece to have them assembled and delivered.
The total cost to the city of purchasing the 75,000 yard waste bins, having them assembled and delivered to residences in Greensboro is $4.1 million.
However, according to city staff, spending this $4.1 million and ending loose leaf collection will result in a savings to the city of $10 million over the next 15 years.
Once the yard waste bins are delivered the city will only collect yard waste that is placed in the 95-gallon bin or in biodegradable paper bags.
More accurate math…thanks for confirming the real cost. Hope Schaefer is DEI certified or you’re gonna have a pissed off east Greensboro city council.
Savings—lmao!
We used to call that “FUZZY MATH “
It has already started. The city has no idea what they are doing and what the costs are. Expect more failures and miss information so they can try to justify this stupid and costly program that the voters and taxpayers do not want.
Someone with an education and some bean counting skills may need to rethink and reconsider this illogical idea. It will not save anyone anything. It will only create serious issues. Is the city really going to assume these risks???
Excuse me…but there are only 75,000 addresses in Greensboro that pay taxes? Sounds kinda low – about as low as the combined IQ score of our great and beloved City Council. Keep these stooges in charge!
Well that doesn’t count apartments, condos, townhouses, dorms, and other properties that don’t have traditional yards. If calculate that an average of 3 people live at an address, then that is 225,000 and Greensboro’s estimated population is around 300,000 so 75,000 sounds accurate.
Currently, we use three approved 32-gallon cans plus clear plastic bags we purchase for our yard waste, which can include leaves, branches, vegetation…. any kind of yard waste. The filled cans or bags must not weigh more than 50 lbs each. In March, those 32-gallon cans will be replaced with one 96-gallon wheeled can, which holds the equivalent of three 32-gal cans. So, a full 96-gal can could weigh 150 lbs or more.
How is a senior citizen or someone with a bad back, knees, etc, or someone who is very small, supposed to tilt and wheel a can of that weight across their yard and then out to the curb? Inquiring minds want to know!
You don’t seriously believe that the council cares about the senior population, do you? Trust me, we are the least of their concerns.
So the savings of $10 million over the next 15 years takes into account the revenue lost to sort through contaminated truckloads of yard waste or was this even considered.
We will see if the savings come true. Next years leaf collection budget is projected at 861,000 plus, an increase over this year. So when will the savings start after spending over 5 million dollars for bins and new trucks. I think this will be the old shuffle trick with the budget and it will be hard to put your finger on true savings if there are any. Keep in mind this is the same coty government that told us once upon a time that they need to charge one dollar for parking at the coliseum until the parking lot was repaved and then the fee would go away. Today some events cost up to 30.00 to park and the coliseum is still millions in the hole each year.
Fed Up you are 100% correct about the fuzzy budget. The coliseum opened in 1959, in 1960 I took my family to see the circus, it cost .25 to park only until the paving of the lot was paid for. I’ve come to the conclusion that the coliseum has 1 big a$$ parking lot. It’s just like that 30% tax increase it will never go away. I’ve never met a democrat who didn’t like to spend someone else’s money
So the city will save $667,000 per year to get to $10M savings over 15 years. At the total cost of $4.1M, the ROI will be 6.15 years. That assumes that all 75,000 cans last over 6 years and no new homes are built in GSO over the next 15 years, requiring more cans. City math at its best.
I hope the new bins are made out of the recycled material put in the recycled bin. One more ugly thing to put in our yard or driveway.
I’m grateful for the effort that the City is putting into this project. The loose leaf collection program was a failure because too many households insisted on raking leaves onto the streets which lead to narrowing of traffic /walking lanes & reduced on-street parking. If we could get some ideas on the best ways to compost yard waste it could prove to be a win-win situation for all. Thank you.
Is “Shaefer Plastics North America LLC” a minority company? Who recommended them, and was a bid put out to obtain different estimates for the costs?
Was an RFP put out for the cans. I’ve never seen anything about it in any council meetings. I don’t think the manager has the authority to give out a contract of that size. John could you or Scott find out for us taxpayers, since this is our money. Thanks
Happy New Year, everyone. My resolution is to treat more people that I meet on street, with respect and understanding.