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Keene approves 8-year renewal with Republic Services; bulk pickup, landfill passes, recycling options among changes
Summary
Keene City Council approved an eight-year contract renewal with Republic Services that keeps weekly residential pickup, adds a weekly 1-cubic-yard “bulk” allowance, expands landfill access and moves future annual increases to a water/sewer/trash index. The vote was unanimous.
Keene City Council on July 8 approved an eight-year renewal with Republic Services to continue curbside trash collection and related services in the city.
Republic Services representative Robin told council the company proposes two contract lengths: a five-year option with a larger initial increase and an eight-year option with a smaller immediate increase. "This has a dollar 50 increase for the 5 year initial, and then the 8 year is the dollar 25," Robin said while describing the pricing options. She recommended the 8-year term for lower immediate impact to residents and explained that after the early years rates would move to a Water-Sewer-Trash (WST) CPI index used to reflect industry-specific cost changes.
The company also proposed operational changes to bulk pickup and landfill access. Under the new service, bulk pickup would move from one large monthly collection to one cubic yard available weekly on each regular pickup day, Robin said: "Instead of waiting 4 weeks for a bulk pick up, we're proposing to do 1 cubic yard every week." Republic said roughly 144 households (about 7 percent of customers) have used the on-call bulk option each month and that spreading bulk service across weekly routes should reduce customers’ need to store large items.
Republic also described a resident landfill access pass that would allow four free drop-offs per year at participating facilities at each household’s convenience rather than on a single quarterly weekend. Republic said the program cost to the city in 2024 was only about $2,000 in foregone landfill fees and that the company offers a discounted rate of about $18 per cubic yard for additional debris (Republic contrasted that with an estimated gate rate of around $60 per cubic yard at some landfills).
Company representatives described technology upgrades that provide route progress visibility for residents and city staff and cameras/sensors on some trucks to record contaminated recycling or route exceptions. Robin said the technology can help cut down on “worry calls” from residents asking whether a route is complete.
Council members asked about growth and long-term cost impacts as new housing developments come online. Robin said additional homes are added to the city invoice as utility accounts activate, and that routing built earlier provides some capacity for new addresses without an immediate re-route. Council asked whether recycling could be added; Robin described tradeoffs since recycling markets have changed since China tightened imports, and suggested starting with a public drop-off or a pilot such as an off-street container if demand proves sufficient.
Councilmember Foster moved to approve the eight-year contract renewal; Councilmember Chapman seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
The new contract phases initial adjustments into the WST index (an industry-weighted CPI) after the early contract years; the agreement includes the weekly 1-cubic-yard bulk allowance, resident landfill pass changes, and the technology features described by the company. The contract also carries a franchise fee the firm pays to the city; Republic said that fee is used primarily for street repairs.
