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Rogue Disposal wants to sweep up Fall leaf program would replace city's By JIM DAVIS Rogue Disposal and Recycling Inc. made a pitch Thursday to take over Medford's fall leaf pickup program. The private company has the communication, equipment and knowledge of Medford routes to handle the program effectively, said Don Cordell, a Rogue Disposal manager. "We've been talking about it for years," Cordell said. "The city asked us last fall and this spring to develop a proposal." At a study session of the Medford City Council Thursday, Cordell outlined a list of services the company could offer. Cordell said the program would cost the city from $66,337 to $136,420 depending on the frequency of the pickups and whether the city would keep the leaves or the company would dispose of them. Medford Public Works Director Cory Crebbin said the city does a good job with the program now, but he said he would prefer Rogue Disposal to take over the task. "We think they could do a better job than we're currently doing," Crebbin said. Last year, the city collected 90,000 bags of leaves. The city spent $95,000, including the cost of renting equipment and hiring temporary workers, Crebbin said. Rogue Disposal would like to pick up the leaves, Cordell said. The company is trying to meet a Legislature-approved goal of recycling 50 percent of the waste it collects, he said, and composting Medford's leaves would help reach that goal. Cordell said his company could pick up leaves two to four times between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. Cordell also said Rogue Disposal could pick up the leaves in bags or unbagged. To bag or not to bag became an issue last year. The city began requiring homeowners to bag their leaves in the fall after years of allowing residents just to push the leaves into the streets. Some residents objected to the added hassle of bagging the leaves and worried about elderly people trying to move large bags; the city, however, liked the fact that the leaves did not end up in storm drains. "We don't have any preference," Cordell said. "It would be cheaper to do it unbagged, but we're fully prepared to implement the wishes of the City Council, be it bagged or unbagged." The company also started a pilot program this spring to pick up yard debris in 95-gallon cans. He said that program may expand in the next 12 to 18 months to become citywide. The voluntary program costs an extra $3.50 per month for customers. While not every customer will have the cans, Cordell said many will, and it will make the leaf problem less of an issue. The City Council told Crebbin to break down the costs of the city program for a comparison with Rogue Disposal's proposal. "The bottom line is it hasn't been determined how we're going to do the leaf pickup program this year," Crebbin said. "We're still working on it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA