Grosse Pointe City

City extends recycling contract with Rizzo

By K. Michelle Moran
C & G Staff Writer

GROSSE POINTE CITY — Rizzo Services will continue curbside recyclable collection in the City for the next three years.

At a Feb. 13 City Council meeting, the council voted unanimously in favor of extending the contract with Rizzo for another three years. The original contract, signed in 2009 by Harper Woods and Grosse Pointes City, Farms, Park and Shores, had been slated to expire this year. When the bids went out in 2009, City Manager Pete Dame said Rizzo’s was the lowest of four responsible bidders.

In the new deal, Rizzo has offered to keep the current price of 55 cents per residential stop each week. The recycling charge appears on residents’ water bills, and Dame said the new agreement means that residents won’t see the recycling portion of that bill go up for at least the next three years.

Noting that the joint bid is a way to get better prices, Mayor Dale Scrace said this is another positive example of the cities working together.

City administrators have been happy with the work done by Rizzo over the last three years, which is one of the reasons why they recommended the contract extension.

“We have had excellent services and a declining number of missed service complaints,” Dame told the council.

As an added bonus, Dame said, Rizzo agreed to coordinate its recycling collection with the City’s trash collection schedule after all holidays. Scrace said he was pleased to see this development, which should be more convenient for residents.

In a letter to officials from Rizzo Services President Chuck Rizzo Jr., he indicated that the extension would continue the existing contract through Aug. 2, 2015. He also wrote that the company is “a local, family owned and operated full service solid waste provider.”

The other cities are expected to vote on the contract in the coming weeks.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer K. Michelle Moran at kmoran@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1047.