Falls extends Casella contract in return for purchase of 18,000 new totes

Yahoo

17-05-2025

Just over a year into a five-year deal to provide garbage and recycling collection for Niagara Falls, city council members have approved a five-year extension of the city's contract with Casella Waste Management.
In exchange for the doubling of the term of its contract, Casella has agreed to spend 'approximately $1.2 million this year to purchase 18,000 new 96-gallon blue garbage totes.' According to a memo from Mayor Robert Restaino (D) to the council members, the purchase would allow the city to replace its current collection of roughly 18,000 'smaller-seized blue totes.'
The extension moves the expiration of Casella's contract from April 30, 2029, to April 30, 2034, 'under the same terms, conditions, and specifications' currently contained in its agreement with the city.
Restaino has characterized the Casella contract as 'much more in line with our refuse fee' revenue.
The mayor had previously expressed concern over the cost and necessity of replacing the city's current collection of blue garbage totes, which he says 'are at the end of their useful lives. Those totes are owned by the city and are maintained and repaired by the city's Department of Public Works (DPW).
Under the terms of the contract extension, Casella will dispose of the old blue totes and will retain ownership of the new totes for the length of its contract with the city and any additional extensions. The waste removal contractor will also be responsible for the maintenance of the new totes.
Restaino said DPW will still be responsible for the maintenance of the city's 96-gallon green recycling totes. But he estimated the DPW's tote repair work would decrease by up to 75%.
The mayor cautioned that if the city was required to buy the new totes, it would likely have to fund the purchase by increasing the city's garbage user fee.
The original Casella contract replaced an expiring, decades-old agreement with Modern Disposal Services. The Lewiston-based company had handled trash and recycling collection in the Falls since the late 1990s. Modern had been the target of continual complaints about its services from city residents.
Council Member Donta Myles (D) said those complaints have increased in the first year of the Casella contract.
'Since they've started, I've got more complaints about totes being torn up and tops of totes being ripped up and never replaced,' Myles said. 'And not picking up all of the trash, leaving totes in the middle of the street when they dump them. Trash falling in the street and they don't pick it up. Extending their contract right now is not valid cause we're getting more complaints right now than we had with Modern.'
Myles said that until Casella improved its services, he would not agree to extend its contract.
Council Chair James Perry (D) and members Traci Bax (R), Brian Archie (D) and David Zajac (R) voted to approve the extension and tote purchase.
The city charges residents a solid waste disposal or 'user' fee to offset the cost of having a private company handle garbage and recyclable collections. The fee, established in 2019 at $181 a year, is billed directly to property owners and must be reauthorized every year as part of the city's budget approval process.