EAST PALESTINE Bidding for trash pickup voted down

One councilwoman said the garbage hauling issue generated more phone calls to her than any other.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST PALESTINE -- Ken Hunston left city council Monday night a happy man.
Five council members unanimously voted down an ordinance to bid garbage collection and recycling services. Councilman Doug Simpson was absent.
Hunston told council Feb. 26 that a bidding war for trash collection and curbside recycling in the village would put him out of business.
Residents may choose their trash hauler, and although the Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison Joint Solid Waste Management District provides a recycling bin in the city, there is no curbside recycling. Council planned to bid residential trash collection and curbside recycling.
Hot issue: Councilwoman Barbara Lynch said the garbage-hauling issue generated more phone calls to her than any other.
"People said they are satisfied with the way things are now, and they want it left alone," Lynch said.
Councilwoman Becky Burns, who made a motion to table the ordinance's first reading Feb. 26, said she also had her share of phone calls.
"People didn't like the idea that garbage collection might be exclusive," Burns said. "They were also worried about our local hauler."
Longtime business: Hunston said he lives in the city and his family has been hauling city trash for 58 years. He has done the job the last 20 years by himself.
He said that to compete with large commercial haulers he would have to purchase a second truck and that he cannot afford to do. He also hauls trash for the city.
Hunston said some residents have given him their garage door openers and he takes the cans out of the garage.
"This is all I do," Hunston said Monday. "I am in the city five days a week. My service is what keeps me in business. I help the elderly, getting their trash from their garages and porches. If people miss a day, they call me, and I'm there the next day. I don't think anyone can compete with that."