Jonathan Stefonek lpedit@hngnews.com | Sep 16, 2022

The Windsor Village Board selected Pellitteri Waste Systems as the village's new waste disposal and recycling contractor starting in 2023 in an unanimous vote in their Sept. 15 board meeting.

The board reviewed three proposals from Badgerland Disposal, a part of Lakeshore Recycling Systems, Pellitteri Waste Systems, and current contractor Waste Management.

Representatives from Badgerland and Pellitteri appeared at the Thursday meeting to give final pitches and answer any questions from board members before the deciding vote.

In addition to numerous questions about the details of each company's process, two of the primary concerns brought to the representatives were questions about how they could assure a certain level of customer service and whether they would be able to provide services with side-loading trucks with hopes of reducing waste spillage along routes.

Although Badgerland is part of a larger company, their representative insisted that there would me locally-based management and operations, and that although they were not using side-loading trucks it would be possible in the future.

The representative from Pellitterri pointed out that in their case, side-loading vehicles are currently available and that the company is smaller and based in the Madison area.

At the same time, the Badgerland representative pointed out that with the greater resources of their parent company, Badgerland would be able to deliver services at a lower cost than what Pellitteri would be able to do.

A comparison of the proposals provided by village staff showed Badgerland offering a per-household monthly cost of $15.04 with recycling pickup every other week, and $16.96 with weekly recycling. Pellitteri was estimated as $14.99 and $17.74, but with an additional cost of just under $2 per month if using Pellitteri carts as opposed to those currently in use. Waste Management had a single option of recycling every other week at $18.83 per month.

Village President Bob Wipperfurth ended a line of questioning asking that whichever company was selected would incorporate in their proposal a plan for notifying the village office of any customer issues as well as the village president, that being him or a different village president in the future.

"Because often times I'm getting calls from residents wondering what's going on and it's just another step in the process for the office to contact me," said Wipperfurth, "and hopefully that's not going to be a problem. But it has been a huge problem recently."

Board member Ed Wall followed with a question about where each company was specifically based, noting that he had received a complaint that morning from a resident about trash being left behind in the street after pickup.

At the end of questioning, when it came to public input, Pellitteri had an extra boost to their pitch as Danielle Pellitteri, who handles customer services and marketing for Pellitteri, came online to highlight other services including an opportunity for community shred events, where residents could bring sensitive documents what would need to be disposed of more discreetly and thoroughly.

"I also wanted to mention that I'm one of the third-generation Pellitteris," she told the board, "it is clear you are looking for outstanding customer service for your residents and we are the provider of choice for customer service...We want to continue our mission as a local, family-owned business."

Despite the many similarities between the proposals of the two companies appearing in the meeting, Pellitteri insisted, "we are very different companies...my brothers and I run the business on a day-to-day basis, we're here, we're boots-on-the-ground, we're in meetings on a consistent basis, we know know exactly what is going on."

At the end of the hour of pitches, questions, and discussion, Wipperfurth drew the things to a close, being the first to offer an opinion:  "I think both companies would do an excellent job for the Village of Windsor, given what we have experienced recently. My instinct tells me we should go with Pellitterri...I think given the fact that we've just had service from one of the major companies, if not the biggest one in the world of waste management, I think it is time to look at a smaller company, a Dane-County-based company, and I think some of the finances we can work out to see what that value actually is."

Wall agreed, saying, that both companies were "outstanding," but that he liked the idea of working with a smaller company.

Board member Monica Smith agreed, saying that based on the village's experience with Waste Management, they it would be better to opt for the smaller, more local Pellitteri. Trustee Bruce Stravinski took the position that it was essentially "a toss-up" and in that case between the two represented companies, and would support the other members' recommendation.

Wipperfurth moved to have a contract with Pellitteri drawn up, to replace the Waste Management contract, which expires at the end of the year. The motion was then unanimously approved.