Bolingbrook tries to figure out whether it wants garbage bins

BOLINGBROOK – It might sound odd, but there is some major trash talk happening in Bolingbrook.

And it’s serious.

Since the 1970s, the village of Bolingbrook has prohibited garbage cans or toters from being left at the curbside on garbage day. Some residents still have cans to store garbage in on days garbage is not picked up in their area, but they need to leave the garbage bags outside when it is picked up.

It’s an issue that has both pro-toters and anti-toters wanting to find a solution.

“It’s an issue that’s pretty much divided the community half and half,” Trustee Bob Jaskiewicz said.

The trustee said that although in certain neighborhoods this system is working fine, there are other areas in the village that residents have complained of wildlife, such as raccoons, coyotes and skunks, getting into the garbage.

There also is, at times, loose trash and recycled materials flying around the neighborhoods on especially windy days.

But at a March 26 meeting, Bolingbrook Mayor Roger Claar laid out the reasons having garbage cans might not be such a simple solution. Bolingbrook’s garbage services are handled by Groot Industries, Inc.

Claar said 95-gallon toters from Groot would cost about $350 a toter a month, although he said the final cost would depend on factors such as how many people would sign up to get a toter.

Claar also touched on potentially needing a new ordinance requiring residents to keep the toters inside, which generally would be in their garage. He stressed that not every home would have a garage big enough to store a toter, and he did not want to see toters in residents’ yards on nongarbage days.

“It’s stunning what some people will allow to sit in front of their house,” Claar told the residents in attendance at the meeting. “I personally don’t want two of these sitting in front of my garage door.”

Claar also showed video clips trying to compare how long it takes for a Groot employee to collect the garbage bags with how long it would take to dump a toter, which he argues would take longer.

Residents are allowed to leave an unlimited number of bags of garbage out to be picked up, with size and weight restrictions per bag, but they are not allowed to use cans at the curb.

For recycled materials, residents can use recycling bins they can get at village hall.

Recycling collection is the same day as garbage pickup. However, that also has become an issue because multiple residents at the meeting complained of their current recycling bins not having lids, so their contents easily can be blown away.

Groot has 65-gallon recycling bins with lids.

By comparison, Joliet, Plainfield, Lockport and Romeoville all use Waste Management as their garbage service provider. Those communities use either the 96- or 64-gallon toters, according to a handout from the March 26 meeting. The cost for those toters is estimated to be anywhere from $21.72 to $27.38.

Jaskiewicz said in order for a solution to be agreed upon this year, it has to happen before May 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

“You’ve got to look at the long-term benefit,” Jaskiewicz said. “Less garbage flying around and animals getting in, that’s a plus in my eyes.”

Claar said at the meeting that the village’s contract with Groot runs until 2021.