By Crystal McGough
Copy Editor
The Clay City Council held a bid opening Tuesday night at its regular council meeting for waste services, since the city’s contract with Republic Services will expire on March 31. Five companies responded to the bid invitations.
The following bids are for services per month. The services bid on are for one residential container with once-a-week pickup; two residential containers with once-a-week pickup; residential refuse, which includes brush, tree limbs, leaves, etc.; 30 yard roll off containers — dumpsters used by the city for special events; and a reduced rate for one container with once-a-week pickup if the city decides to make waste services mandatory for all residents within city limits, which would result in approximately 3,600 accounts.
Arrow Disposal Service, Inc.
$15.85 — 1 Container, weekly pickup
$23.00 — 2 Containers, weekly pickup
$6.50 — Residential Refuse
$400/haul, $24/clean — 30 Yard Roll Off
$15.00 — Mandatory, 1 Container
Republic Services
$11.99 — 1 Container, weekly pickup
$17.99 — 2 Containers, weekly pickup
$4.50 — Residential Refuse
$195/haul, $25/ton — 30 Yard Roll Off
$11.99 — Mandatory, 1 Container
Santek Waste Disposal
$11.28 — 1 Container, weekly pickup
$14.03 — 2 Containers, weekly pickup
$5.28 — Residential Refuse
$185/haul, $21/ton — 30 Yard Roll Off
$10.61 — Mandatory, 1 Container (if a single bill is sent to City of Clay)
Waste Management
Declined bid
Waste Pro of Alabama
$13.12 — 1 Container, weekly pickup
$19.00 — 2 Containers, weekly pickup
$5.00 — Residential Refuse
$190/haul, $38/ton — 30 Yard Roll Off
$12.65 — Mandatory, 1 Container
“The biggest change that all of us were made aware of by our current vendor is the changes in the recycling program that is nationwide,” City Manager Ronnie Dixon said. “So it’ll probably take us the full two weeks to evaluate this and then I’ll report back to (the council) at our next meeting.”
The change Dixon is referring to is the fact that no waste disposal companies in the nation are able to provide recycling anymore, which Dixon has mentioned at previous council meetings.
The council also discussed several topics related to the schools in the city of Clay. During the pre-council session, Dixon gave updates regarding the new Bryant Park Elementary School and upcoming changes to Clay’s elementary schools as a result of the Jefferson County Board of Education project that is affecting a total of 16 schools countywide.
“The proposal that the Board of Education will submit to the Department of Justice, they gave us today, on the Clay feeder pattern,” Dixon said. “The three elementary schools will be divided by S.T.E.M., which is science, technology, engineering and math; Fine Arts, which includes music, drawing, theater, those kinds of things; and then, it’s kind of like government services (career tech), but I can’t remember what they called it, but Chalkville Elementary will be that program. Bryant Park, the new school, will be Fine Arts, and Clay Elementary will be S.T.E.M.
“The way the proposal reads is that, if you are in a zone where you would go to Clay Elementary, but your child had a proficiency for fine arts, passed the test and that’s what your child wanted to do, you would have the option of sending them to Bryant Park, even though your bus route and your address would indicate Clay Elementary.”
Dixon, who is also the vice president of the Jefferson County BOE, said that there will be new bus routes to accommodate the different options. Spaces in each school will be limited and given on a first-come first-serve basis for students who qualify. If more students qualify than there are spaces for, they will go on a waiting list.
The proposal would also make it so that the district could allow teachers in each specialty to apply to transfer to one of the schools that focuses on their specialty, Dixon said.
“Both of those programs are intended to show the Department of Justice that the county Board of Education is attempting everything possible on this 1969 order to create diversity within the system,” he said. “They say unitary status means that you mirror your workforce, so the entire workforce of Jefferson County is not mirrored in our system because people don’t live where they work.
“Somehow we have to find a magic formula to create diversity, so this is the first step in trying to reach a consent degree for unitary status. So Clay being a part of that is a big deal. Because we have so many Chalkville kids and we have so many Clay kids that are separated K-5, and then we throw them together in middle school, they don’t know each other. This will be a big opportunity for some percentage of those kids to know each other…So this is a big step, a big opportunity, and Clay will be in the spotlight for that.”
The BOE’s goal is to have 650 kids in each one of the three elementary schools. Chalkville Elementary currently has around 1,300, and Clay has around 700, Dixon said.
Bryant Park Elementary is expected to be finished in March of 2020 and open for classes in September 2020.
“Don’t you just love unity?” Councilor Bo Johnson said during the regular council meeting. “Isn’t that cool…I am so excited about what Jefferson County’s doing and what we have the opportunity to, really, be a test sight I guess you could say, for the schools and the S.T.E.M. and the arts program. That’s fantastic. Diversity, I love to see it, man.”
Johnson added that the Birmingham Iron will be playing an Orlando team Saturday, March 9 at 1 p.m., and there is a link on the city of Clay Facebook page where $5 of every ticket purchased can go to benefit the buyer’s school of choice in the Clay area.
“You can support your schools and community, and at the same time, support the Metro area and enjoy yourself at a ballgame,” Johnson said.
Councilor Dennis Locke reported that the city of Clay will be participating in the severe weather tax holiday from Feb. 22-24. He also awarded the January school grants:
Clay Elementary – Christine Sutton will use the $500 to purchase books that are “share the love” friendly.
CCMS – Samantha Johns will use the money to purchase Chromebooks for use in her classroom.
CCHS – Leslie Childs will use the funds to purchase educational apps for the classroom iPad.
“One more thing about the schools,” Dixon said. “…The Clay Elementary School state grade, which is the one that we’re trying to get the Alabama Accountability Act repealed, but nevertheless, the grade’s out there. The elementary school graded a B, and the high school graded a C. That C was by one point; they went from a 75 to a 79. The middle school still graded a D, but they went from a 66 to a 69. So we were two points away from being two Bs and a C school in Clay. So the administrators that y’all support with these grants, and the teachers, and the way they’re using them, is making an impact. Even though the grading system is flawed, we can report what the grades are. It’s only unfair to the schools who are failing because it doesn’t matter what you do, there should never be a program that says 6 percent are always going to fail no matter what their score is…But the schools in Clay are making two and three and four point year-over-year headway, and so those administrators and superintendents appreciate what y’all are doing to help.”