St. Clair approves five-year solid-waste contract with Swinger Sanitation

The Board of Aldermen on Jan. 20 approved an ordinance authorizing the mayor to sign a five-year residential and commercial non-dumpster solid-waste agreement with Swinger Sanitation, with a contract term beginning March 3, 2025 and ending March 1, 2030. The board voted to approve Bill 2025-03; the transcript records the motion carried and the bill became Ordinance No. 2198.

Administrator presented the procurement process, saying four bids were received and city staff recommended Swinger Sanitation after a reference check and cost comparison. The Administrator said the company will provide weekly trash and recycling pickup, supply 96‑gallon carts and optional smaller totes, handle on-call yard-waste pickup and run twice-annual city curbside cleanups. "They're going to split our city into a grid and ... we are reducing their monthly trash bill," the Administrator said during the presentation.

The Administrator described operational changes intended to address narrow streets and missed collections: Swinger will use rear-loader trucks with an extra attendant who will manually lift cans when necessary, and crews will be in the city multiple days rather than a single weekly service day—allowing faster corrections when a pickup is missed. The Administrator also said recycling collection will be handled by a truck-and-trailer system that separates material at pickup to reduce contamination going to landfill.

Stephen, identified in the meeting as Swinger’s representative, was present and available to answer technical questions. Deputy City Clerk Stacy Blake assisted staff with implementation planning and outreach.

A council member asked whether the twice-annual city cleanup replaces the prior dumpster/sticker model. The Administrator answered yes: the city will discontinue stickers and rented dumpsters, and will instead provide curbside pickup for bulky items during scheduled cleanups and on-call requests.

Next steps staff outlined include producing color-coded maps for citywide pickup grids and a public-education campaign in February using the city website, CodeRED messages, utility bill inserts and social media. Staff said they expect a roughly 60-day adjustment period as residents learn the new schedule and routing.

The ordinance was approved by the board; the transcript records "motion carries" but does not provide a roll-call tally in the meeting record.