Approval of applications for garbage hauling in Eagle River ran into issues of complaints that Republic Waste was not providing the service the community had with the previous company, Eagle Waste, at the April 12 Eagle River City Council meeting.

The council approved the license only for 90 days in order to have discussions with the company.

City Administrator Robin Ginner indicated that the service provided by Republic Waste has not met the standards or expectations left behind by Eagle Waste, expressing it more bluntly by saying “their service is crap.”

Ginner told the council she and city clerk Becky Bolte met with general manager Jon Snyder to discuss ongoing problems including billing both to the city and community members. Issues included garbage not being picked up, large rate increases with no notification to commercial customers, and leaving collection areas a mess.

“The problem is snowballing and getting worse,” she said.

Snyder promised a marked improvement in service and said he would be stopping at city hall weekly to make sure things are going well, as well as will issue a credit to the city as “a good faith effort to fix ongoing issues.”

Event garbage is another area where things did not go well. Ginner said for chamber events they are going to donate their services for all downtown events this summer with all garbage collected the day following the event.

Council member Jerry Burkett indicated that he doesn’t want Republic Waste to fail, as they provide jobs and he’s thankful for that.

Mayor Jeff Hyslop wanted to get through Labor Day, saying “we do have other smaller companies we could call in if we had to.”

The council approved granting the garbage license to Republic Waste for 90 days only. The garbage license for Advanced Disposal was approved without comment.

Golf course profit

A late spring will delay opening Eagle River’s municipal 18-hole golf course until the end of April at the sole discretion of course superintendent Kyle Anderson, according to general manager Tony Sable.

Sable felt the increase in rounds during the Covid situation will continue and noted that “green fees will be strong again but pro shop sales may struggle.”

Final figures for last year saw revenue at $861,341 with expenses at $628,805. There were $120,000 provided to the city as an advance and for tax relief. Net income was $112,536.

Sable gave the council an update on golf carts which are going into their fifth year. The Yamaha dealer inspected the carts indicating they are “in good shape and complimented us on keeping them clean and in good working condition.”

He said there is a high demand for used carts and the course may want to consider trading them at some point while they still have value. Sable added that they also will purchase a beverage cart for $18,000.

Greens No. 4 and 12 have excessive back-to-front slopes and there will be an architect to design plans for change, but that may not happen until 2023, according to Sable.