Lapwai City Council has signed a contract with Four Feathers Disposal of Lewiston, Idaho to provide sanitation services to city residents.? The decision to sign the contract at the City Council meeting on January 8th, 2009 follows three months of negotiations between the City of Lapwai, Four Feathers Disposal, Nez Perce County, Asotin County and the Asotin County Regional Landfill.
The decision grants Four Feathers Disposal, a newly formed Native American owned company, the exclusive contract for the collecting, hauling and disposal of refuse, solid waste, garbage, and recyclable material within the city. The Council also agreed to sign the agreement submitted by Asotin County Regional Landfill that allows the City of Lapwai to dispose of their solid municipal waste at the Asotin County landfill site in the Clarkston Heights. The City is waiting for the final signing of this agreement by all parties.
The City has been in an ?Emergency Situation? since October, when the former sanitation service, Walco Inc. of Grangeville, ID, removed their containers in midst of discussions about service end dates.? Latah Sanitation Services of Moscow, ID has temporarily covered sanitation-hauling services for the City of Lapwai in the transition. The City?s Maintenance and two temporary hires have been responsible for roadside pick up.
The process began back in early in 2008 when the Council begin to investigate other options as alternatives to the significant increases proposed by Walco. The City requested bid proposals from other local contractors: Sunshine Disposal & Recycling, Latah Sanitation Services, Naslund Disposal Service, and Four Feathers Disposal. Proposals were received from Sunshine, Naslund, and Four Feathers.?? Latah did not respond to the request for proposal.
After reviewing the bids and options, the Council voted to contract with Four Feathers for the sanitation services.? The Council took into consideration the pricing, services offered, relationship, experience, and work history of each of the contractors. The owner of Four Feathers Disposal has been a citizen of Lapwai and is highly committed to the Lapwai community.? Although a new business, Four Feathers has fulfilled all the necessary requirements for equipment and paperwork.? The City believes that Four Feathers will do an excellent job for our residents.
The City is sorry for disruptions this change in contractors may have caused and asks for the citizens continued patience as details are finalized.?? This process has taken longer than expected due to a number of circumstances and delays, which included the election year, holiday season, significant storms and lawsuits. All parties involved are looking forward to getting the services back to normal. When full services are restored, Sanitation services fees will resume to full price (previous price), Residential $19.84 and Commercial according to service provided.
City has purchased the larger residential trash carts and expects them to be placed curbside during the last week of February and full curbside service to be restored with the new contractor by first week of March.? Please be advised that for the residents of the City of Lapwai, who have contracted with other vendors, you will be charged for City sanitation services according to City Code, in addition to what you are paying your new contractor.
If you have any questions or concerns about the service, please feel free to contact the City at 843-2212 or check out our website at http://cityoflapwai.com
