BEATRICE – A southeast Nebraska waste hauler has picked up another area community as a customer.  Midwest Area Refuse Solutions…or MARS… has been selected by the village of DeWitt in Saline County, to provide garbage hauling service. The hauler’s bid was one of three submitted to the village, to serve roughly 225 customers. The Beatrice City Council approved the agreement, Tuesday night.


City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer says it’s a five-year agreement which would begin in January.  "Their residential gets billed $16.50....their commercial is the same as the city of Beatrice. Other than that, the contract is essentially identical to all the other ones, with all the other villages that we serve."


The council’s vote was 6-1, with Councilman Duane Ruh objecting over the monthly charge that would be instituted for DeWitt residents….and the fact that those rates would not increase for the first three years of the agreement.


"That's uncalled for. Everything else, has been a year. And, we're going to let them pay $16.50 for three years, when we're paying $20 per person in Beatrice."


Ruh also felt that a public entity such as the city should not be competing with private business. Tempelmeyer says that’s not unusual in Nebraska. He cites public power as a prime example.


Ruh wanted to amend the agreement to increase the DeWitt monthly charge to $20, but Tempelmeyer said that would result in MARS not getting the contract. MARS already collects trash from rural areas around DeWitt, and the contract would allow trucks to return to the landfill southwest of Beatrice, with a full load. Rural customers are paying $23 a month in the hauler’s service area, according to Tempelmeyer.


He said some cost savings is also realized because MARS would bill the village…not each individual household. The enterprise hauls refuse to the Beatrice Area Solid Waste Agency…..which is building a new landfill south of the current facility, this coming year.