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BRISTOL, Va. (WCYB) — Bristol, Virginia trash customers could soon see higher bills now that the garbage is being taken elsewhere. A contract has been approved, but there's still work to find out how much more it could cost.
Now that the Bristol, Virginia landfill is no longer accepting trash, city council members have approved a contract that will allow trash to continue being transported to a landfill in Blountville.
Council voted 4-1 to enter into the contract with Eco-Safe Systems, LLC, or Waste Management.
Vice Mayor Neal Osborne says the city had been paying the "gate rate" of about $38 per ton.
"To take our residential trash, it's at a rate of $32.50 per ton, so it is a little bit less than what the gate rate is, so we are getting a little bit of a discount based on volume."
Councilman Kevin Wingard was the lone dissenting vote, growing frustrated at the meeting.
"Now we find ourselves in the position where we are forced to pay $32.50 a ton. That's a hard pill to swallow."
Waste Management was the only company to respond to the city's request for proposals. However, customers could be seeing an impact soon.
News 5 asked Osborne: "Do you think Bristol, Virginia citizens will be seeing an increase when it comes to their trash service now that it's being taken to Blountville?"
"So, we are still going through that process, we need to determine what the correct rate is supposed to be," answered Osborne. "I don't want to see any kind of real substantial increase in trash rates -- we have not landed on a number, but we want to minimize any kind of impact."
Currently, Bristol, Virginia trash customers pay roughly $33 a month.