Bedford Town Council has entered into an agreement with Bays Trash Removal, Inc., for town commercial waste services. Six of the seven council members voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with the company after a public hearing. Councilman Darren Shoen abstained from voting due to possible conflict of interest.
Bays Trash Removal, a local independent contractor, has been working with the town of Bedford on a trial basis since Nov. 11, 2019, after the town stopped working with Bedford County for its commercial waste disposal services. Bedford Town Manager Bart Warner said the agreement with Bays will save the town about $200,000 per year on hauling and tipping fees and will not raise trash service costs for town residents. Residential waste will continue being collected and disposed of at no charge by the county, and Bays will handle the town’s commercial waste.
Under a 2003 reversion agreement between the town and Bedford County, the county accepted and disposed of all solid waste from the town’s residential customers at no charge. The town collected its own commercial, nonresidential refuse under this agreement and transported it to the Bedford County landfill. Under this arrangement, the town paid the county tipping fees — the cost per ton of waste — and disposal fees for its commercial refuse.
Warner said last fall, the county advised the town that it could not “continue to accept the town’s commercial trash under terms acceptable to the town.” According to Warner, the catalyst for the town’s decision to find other arrangements for commercial waste disposal was a proposed increase in Bedford County tipping fees.