Approval of applications for garbage hauling in Eagle River ran into issues of complaints that Republic Waste was not providing the service the community had with the past company, Eagle Waste.
The city council approving the license only for 90 days to have discussions with the company.
City administrator Robin Ginner indicated the service provided by Republic Waste, “has not met the standards or expectations left behind by Eagle Waste.”
Ginner told the council she and city clerk Becky Bolte met with general manager Jon Snyder to discuss ongoing problems including billing both to the city and community members.
Issues included garbage not being picked up, large rate increases with no notification to commercial customers, leaving collection areas a mess.
“The problem is snowballing and getting worse,” Ginner said.
Snyder promised a marked improvement in service and said he would be stopping at city hall weekly to make sure things are going well and will issue a credit to the city as “a good faith effort to fix ongoing issues.”
Event garbage is another area where things did not go well. Ginner said for chamber events they are going to donate their services for all downtown events this summer with all garbage collected the day following the event.
Council member Jerry Burkett said, “I don’t want them to fail; they provide jobs and I’m thankful for that.”
Mayor Jeff Hyslop wanted to get through Labor Day. He said there are other smaller companies the city could call in if it had to.
The council approved granting the garbage license to Republic Waste for 90 days only. The garbage license for Advanced Disposal was approved without comment.Golf course profit
A late spring will delay opening the Eagle River municipal 18-hole golf course until late April at the sole discretion of course superintendent Kyle Anderson, according to general manager Tony Sable.
Sable felt the increase in rounds during the COVID situation will continue and “green fees will be strong again, but pro shop sales may struggle.”
Final figures for last year saw revenue at $861,341 with expenses at $628,805. There were $120,000 provided to the city as an advance and for tax relief. Net income was $112,536.
Sable gave the council an update on golf carts which are going into their 5th year. The Yamaha dealer inspected the carts indicating they are “in good shape and complimented us on keeping them clean and in good working condition.”
He said there is a high demand for used carts and “we may want to consider trading them at some point while they still have value.”
Sable said they will be purchasing a beverage cart for $18,000.
Finally greens #4 and #12 have excessive back-to-front slopes and there will be an architect to design plans for change that but may not happen until 2023.