BURTON CITY COUNCIL LOOKING TO MOVE ON FROM TRASH SERVICES PROVIDER

  

The City of Burton is taking steps to part ways with its trash services provider.

The Burton City Council on Tuesday moved unanimously to proceed with terminating the city’s contract with Texas Commercial Waste, based on consumer complaints and changing needs of the city.

Some of the criticisms discussed by the council included slow service and deteriorating condition of dumpsters around town.  Mayor Pro Tem Nathan Kalkhake said he has received several comments from residents on the issue.

From here, the item goes through a process that will include a public hearing, giving citizens the opportunity to formally present their complaints.  Mayor Karen Buck told the council to “pencil in” February 27^th as the date for the hearing, but cautioned that the date was not set in stone. 

Buck said if the contract is terminated, the effective end date would likely be March 31^st.  The city has received bids from two other contract vendors for services, but cannot review them yet since the existing contract is still active. 

Buck advised that this will be a transition and a learning experience for everyone, given that the city has had its current vendor – with a name change – since the late 1980s. 

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, councilmembers discussed the city’s efforts to address water loss, including identifying the users of the most and least amount of water and changing out residential and commercial water meters in need of replacement.  They also went over the possibility of establishing a water and sewer subcommittee who would provide oversight over the water supply and report findings to the council. 

The council also agreed to hire Business Services Company to conduct a socioeconomic survey for $6,000, in order to gather data to apply for grants or loans with the Texas Water Development Board. 

In addition, the council approved an order of election and election services contract between the city and Washington County for the May 4^th general election, as well as an interlocal election agreement between the city and Burton ISD.  Council positions #2, #3 and #5, held respectively by Tommie Gilmon, Jeff Eckhardt and Macey Tidwell, are up for election, but none of the races are contested thus far.  City Secretary Angela Harrington said Thursday is the last day to get an application for a place on the ballot. 

In other business, councilmembers:

• Accepted a bid from Jmendoza Tree Service for $6,500 to clear away brush and trees 5 to 10 feet from the wastewater treatment plant fence. 
• Approved a resolution authorizing the closure of a segment of the state highway system in the downtown area for the annual Cotton Gin Festival, to be held April 20^th. 
• Set a public hearing during the council’s next regular meeting on March 12^th at 5:30 p.m. regarding the city’s general and water/sewer budgets for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year.