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HARRISON TOWNSHIP — In a 6-0 vote, the Harrison Township Board of Trustees chose to award a contract to Tringali Sanitation March 24.
Clerk Adam Wit was not present for the meeting.
According to an item attached to the agenda, the township first used Tringali in 2010 before switching to Rizzo Environmental Services five years later in 2015.
The township currently uses Priority Waste through a contract that was an extension of a contract with GFL Environmental Inc., which was also an extension of the original contract with Rizzo. Supervisor Kenneth Verkest said in a phone call that the current contract with Priority Waste expires May 1.
“The cost for three services for residential waste hauling, including furniture and white goods pickup, along with township dumpster service for five years, is $1,244.88 for Priority Waste and $1,404.00 for Tringali Sanitation,” the item said.
“White goods” are appliances such as stoves, refrigerators and washing machines.
“It was also unlikely that curbside chipping would be an option since no one else is offering those services,” the item also indicated.
The new contract would be for the next five years.
Representatives from both Priority and Tringali spoke at the meeting March 24.
Verkest at first did not make a recommendation, stating that it was the will of the board, which company to go with. Before the comments from both companies, Verkest said he’s heard from a number of residents in the past nine months stating they were not satisfied with the current services.
“And a number of them said to me, ‘I wish we could have Tringali back,’” Verkest said.
He said that in the five years they had Tringali, they had very few complaints.
Verkest also said he didn’t believe the cost should be the single deciding factor.
“During the 10 years that we didn’t have Tringali, that contract was bought and sold two times. We had three different providers, and yet, 15 years later, Tringali Sanitation is still offering these services, and based on our prior experience, I believe Tringali is the preferred choice before us this evening,” Verkest said.
During the discussion with both companies, the board favored switching from bins to recycling carts to avoid trash blowing in the wind.
Dan Venet, Priority Waste’s vice president of municipal sales, said a requirement of the bid was to provide recycling carts to residents who don’t have them.
“I would say in the area right now of Harrison Township, you’re probably at 55%-65% cart-based usage,” Venet said. “What this will help is reduce a lot of that peripheral debris from those old totes or bins.”
He said it’s a greater commitment than the competitor, stating they were only willing to offer 100 carts rather than the rest that are not included.
Venet said they are familiar with all of the roadways and streets, and the four services already provided should remain the same.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat that transition was smooth for you,” Venet said.
He added that township employees and elected officials, and Priority’s staff, overcame a “significant problem” when they took over the fleet July 1, 2024. He also said that in the last three or four months, Priority fielded around eight to 10 calls per week across the 8,000 homes they service.
“But we’re always looking for zero,” Venet said.
Venet acknowledged the difficult transition again at the end of his comments, stating he appreciates everyone’s leadership, patience and understanding through it.
Dominic Tringali, the founder of Tringali Sanitation, said the job is hard, but they’ll do it.
“Since we’ve worked here, you’ve had three haulers,” Tringali said. “One went to jail, the other one went belly up, and now you’ve got Priority, and they got their trucks with the sticker on it over the mud or the dirt or whatever I see, and they’re nasty.”
He said you get what you pay for.
Verkest voiced concerns about the 100-cart limit Tringali put in the bid. Trustee Dean Olgiati said the township will not get people to switch over to carts if there is a cost associated with it. Tringali said they set a cart limit due to the fact that a lot of residents, from his view, have carts. Tringali also stated he doesn’t want to give carts to those who have them already and that the issue was that the number of needed carts was not known. Verkest said he wants to have more carts up front and fewer over the course of time. He ultimately said he can’t approve the contract with the 100-cart limit language in it. Tringali said he would supply a cart to anyone who needs it.
Verkest ultimately recommended the board go with Tringali Sanitation.
Trustee Brian Batkins said the transition for Priority was very challenging.
“Since that has gotten straightened out, I’ve not put anything out to the road that hasn’t been picked up,” Batkins said.
He complimented the crews who are doing it now.
The motion was made with the stipulation that properties that need carts would be provided with them.
For a full video of the comments from both companies, visit the Harrison Township YouTube page at HarrisonTwpMI and look for the video recording from the township board meeting March 24.
