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Thursday, October 9, 2025
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🗑️ Albemarle Reviews Bids for New Trash Collection Contract
The City of Albemarle is moving forward with selecting a new solid waste collection provider as its current contract nears expiration.
Public Works Director Ross Holshouser explained the city’s plans and recent service changes:
“We advertised for our new solid waste collection services. We’re in our last year of our current contract, and with the movement we’ve done over the past year, our service levels are going to change a little moving forward.”
Holshouser noted that the city has already taken over yard waste and leaf collection responsibilities, so the new request for proposals focused on curbside trash, recycling, and bulk waste services beginning July 1, 2026.
The city asked vendors to submit bids under two options:
- Option A: Trash and recycling carts provided and maintained by the vendor
- Option B: Carts provided and maintained by the City of Albemarle
Mayor Pro Tem Martha Sue Hall made a motion for the city to handle its own carts, but that proposal failed to gain support.
Five companies submitted bids:
- Active Waste Solutions
- Select Sanitation
- Waste Pro
- Republic Services
- Waste Management
🏗️ Active Waste Solutions Offers Lowest Bid
Active Waste Solutions submitted the lowest bid — $178.80 annually per household, or about $14.90 per month, with vendor-supplied carts.
Company president John Glad, who attended the council meeting, emphasized their experience and local focus:
“We’re the largest locally owned waste company serving over 50,000 people. We’ve given you our best price in good faith and can provide new trucks and toters for recycling and trash.”
Active Waste currently serves the towns of Weddington and Marvin, and their proposal came in about $763,000 less than competitors over the five-year term.
🏛️ City Council Chooses Waste Pro Instead
Despite the lower bid, council members expressed concern about reliability .
Councilman Chris Bramlett initially moved to accept the lowest bidder, but the motion failed. Mayor Pro Tem Martha Sue Hall seconded the motion only to allow for discussion, cautioning against rushing the decision:
“We’ve been trashed a lot lately because of trash — and we don’t need to be a guinea pig.”
Councilman Dexter Townsend then made a motion to award the contract to Waste Pro, citing its track record and service history:
“I offer a motion that we accept the bid from Waste Pro based on their past experience and services we’ve evaluated.”
The motion passed with one dissenting vote — Councilman Bramlett opposed.
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