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STEUBENVILLE -- The city's sanitation department isn't seeing the cost savings that had been expected after doing away with its commercial dumpster business last year.
Sanitation Supervisor Bob Baird figures it has a lot to do with the stay-at-home order Gov. Mike DeWine issued in March to slow the spread of COVID-19.
"With the stay at home order, schools and businesses being closed, there's a lot more waste being generated at people's homes," Baird said, pointing out the department's account base is "basically the same, but tonnages are going up.
"What we're seeing, tonnage is not going down," he said
Baird said preliminary year-to-date comparisons show "only a couple hundred tons reduction in the amount of waste we're handling." He also said his department is also getting "a lot of requests for bulk collections."
"We're running 30 collections a week," he said, pointing out that during an eight month period from May to December 2019, they completed 345 special pickups.
"This year, from January to May we've already done 342 bulk pickups," Baird said. "So we're looking at approximately a 100 percent increase in volume there."
Baird said he'd discussed the unexpected tonnage spike with City Finance Director Dave Lewis.
"There's a lot in play, a lot going on," he said. "Really, it's too soon to tell. We don't expect that to continue -- once things return to normal, I think you'll see tonnages go down."
He said it was worth bringing to council's attention, though, "because as long as rates support what we do, we're good."
Baird said the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority has canceled its contract with a private hauler "and recently came back to us, they got rid of the private company."
"We delivered 56 cans to their North End property -- that's 56 new accounts. That's additional revenue that we've kind of recouped, or gotten back. And we have seen an increase in the number of residents asking for additional cans.
"If we keep an eye on the numbers, what revenues and expenditures are, we'll know when its normal,' she said. "We are seeing an increase in volume."
City Manager Jim Mavromatis said residents living on White Oaks Drive had offered to split the cost of paving their street with the city.
Although White Oaks, an unimproved street, is already on the city's paving list, he said it makes a lot of sense since the contractor already has crews in the area resurfacing Efts Lane.
"They would like to have (White Oaks) paved while the equipment is out there," he said. "If we don't do it now, they'd have to pay more to bring the equipment (back)."
He said the project would cost about $20,000, with the residents chipping in about $10,000.
"It's a great partnership," Mavromatis said. "I was surprised all nine residents agreed to do this."