What's happening?
Community Waste Disposal president Jason Roemer presented an update during the CWD annual performance report at the Southlake City Council meeting Aug. 5.
Roemer said the company uses three indices to determine an annual cost adjustment: the consumer price index, natural gas fuel costs and Arlington landfill disposal rates.
All three of those featured an increase from 2023 to 2024, with landfill cost going up 5.07% and fuel going up 54.78%, according to a CWD presentation at the meeting.
Roemer said CWD is proposing a 4.4% increase starting Oct. 1, which will take residential rates from $20 a month to $20.88 a month.
Commercial customers will see a 3.61% increase for front-load container services and a 4.58% increase for roll-off containers, according to his presentation.
City Council will have to approve the change.
Southlake officials approved a CWD increase during the second council meeting in September 2024, according to previous reporting. Southlake customers saw an increase in all three categories last year, as well, and the rate change in 2024 ranged from 4.28% to 4.51%.
Put in perspective
CWD has collected more than 30,000 tons of trash, or solid waste, since taking over the contract, according to the presentation. CWD was approved as the city’s solid waste services on Aug. 1, 2023, with service starting Oct. 1, 2023, according to previous reporting.
In 2024, CWD picked up 3,035 tons of recycling in Southlake. Roemer said that Southlake is in the top 10% of all cities they service in terms of recycling per pound, per month.
Roemer provided a series of slides to showcase what CWD has seen in Southlake since Oct. 1, 2023.
- 705 doorside collections
- 573 tons of leaves recycled from Nov. 15, 2024 to Jan. 25
- 5,290 tons of recycling
- 31% reduction in grievances year to date compared to 2024.
- 10 grievances related to leaf collection, down from 30 the year prior
Roemer said CWD did a transfer station expansion in May with plans for a material recovery facility upgrade and maintenance relocation and expansion in 2026. He also said the company purchased 39 collection vehicles, costing more than $14 million, which will arrive by the end of 2026.
“We’re investing in the infrastructure at our facility,” he said. “We're set to be here for the next, hopefully, 40 or 50 years. We’d like to be forward-facing in your community. We're not just the trash guys, we're not just a contractor, we’re a partner with the city and the community.”
What they’re saying
“The customer service has been great,” Mayor Shawn McCaskill said. “I know of one elderly resident who has some mobility issues and can't get his stuff to the curb. Your guys go around back and help them out and get that stuff from the back of the house to where it needs to be. You guys are doing a great job. We appreciate the responsiveness, the customer service and we appreciate the level of service you're providing to our community."
