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Privatize the city landfill?

GARY HUFFENBERGER
Wilmington News Journal

Privatizing city services wherever possible — shifting a service from public to private ownership and control — is a cost-cutting idea the mayor of Wilmington says he can endorse, at least in principle.

When Wilmington Mayor Randy Riley spoke Thursday at a city council work session on the budget, he made note of input given by residents earlier this year at a town hall meeting that focused on the city’s financial situation. With many of the ideas and suggestions offered by residents, Riley gave his thoughts about the practicality and budget impact.

“There is a possibility of privatizing just about anything the city does. You can privatize transit, you can privatize sanitation, waste water treatment, water department — you can privatize just about anything we do,” Riley said. “But you really lose control of service and cost when you go that route.”

Near the top of the list of city services that may be privatized is operations at the city-owned landfill off South Nelson Avenue.

“We are looking at opportunities of getting out of businesses (service areas) that are being run by the private sector quite successfully,” the mayor said.

Among those service areas are the landfill operations.

According to Riley, the Rumpkes and the Waste Managements of the business world are doing pretty well making a profit doing, what on the other hand, it costs the city to do.

“Most of our (Wilmington Sanitation Department’s) costs come out of our landfill, whereas we are actually making a few bucks out of (Wilmington Sanitation Department’s) trash pickup,” said Riley.

Another budget-conscious possibility would be to sell the landfill, which is projected to sell for millions of dollars, city officials said Thursday.

Another city council work session is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10 in council chambers at Wilmington City Hall.

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