VENTURA : Panel Seeks Talks for Long-Term Hauling

A Ventura City Council committee will recommend Monday that the city enter into negotiations with longtime city trash hauler E. J. Harrison & Sons Inc. for a long-term contract to handle Ventura’s trash and recycling.

The current contract between the city and the company is worth $9.1 million annually, which is the largest contract Ventura awards, said Steve Chase, the city’s environmental coordinator. The committee plans to recommend that an agreement for five to 10 years be negotiated.

Councilman Gary Tuttle, chairman of the ad-hoc waste committee, said he did not anticipate changes in rates or service.

In the past, the city has awarded one-year contracts and switched to six-month contracts two years ago. The long-term contract would allow the rubbish company to get better financing from a bank, Tuttle said.

The committee, which is composed of three council members, will present its recommendation to the full council at the regular Monday meeting. The council is scheduled to award the contract in early 1993, and the agreement will go into effect July 1, 1993.

Harrison & Sons has been hauling Ventura’s trash for six decades, prompting other rubbish companies to complain about a monopoly.

“It’s not a monopoly, it’s a regulated utility,” Tuttle said.

The committee reviewed reports and questioned representatives from Harrison & Sons and Rubbish Control Inc. of Ventura before making a decision, Tuttle said. Six trash haulers had been contacted, but only two were interested, he said.