Glencoe's contract with its garbage hauler expires Wednesday, December 31, and village staff say resident complaints about missed pickups and unreachable customer service are forcing a decision on whether to keep the company or find a new one.

At the Village Board's Committee of the Whole meeting on Wednesday, July 16, Public Works Director Monica Sarna, management analyst Jen Maddux, and Village Manager Phil Kiraly briefed trustees on the status of the village's deal with Lakeshore Recycling Systems. LRS has handled garbage, recycling, and yard waste collection for Glencoe since 2017, when the village shifted away from in-house Public Works crews.

"The biggest thing we get contacted about is missed pickups," Sarna told trustees. "We also get a lot of complaints that people can't even get through to LRS." Sarna said residents have reported hold times as long as 45 minutes.

Maddux acknowledged the village has "heard a few very loud voices in opposition to renewing this contract." She did not quantify total complaints, but Sarna said the pattern was consistent enough that staff raised it directly with LRS in preliminary contract talks.

What's on the table

Under the current contract, LRS crews collect garbage and recycling every weekday except Wednesday, which is reserved for villagewide yard waste pickup from April through December. Residents can also buy stickers for yard waste bags, prescheduled bulk-item pickup, and an annual Spring Clean-Up Day.

Sarna said staff have already asked LRS for customer service improvements, better reporting, enhanced service options, and new pricing. She said LRS has been "responsive" so far, and Kiraly said the company is "eager to stay in service to the community."

But LRS is asking for concessions. The hauler wants to stop offering bulk-item pickup altogether, citing staffing difficulties and workers' compensation concerns. It offered one bulk item per week as a compromise, or two per week if the village agrees to eliminate the Spring Clean-Up Day. LRS proposed replacing the spring event with a Fall Cleanup Day, saying North Shore-wide spring cleanups strain its workforce.

Trustee Dudley Onderdonk pushed back. "I think it's important that we have it. So let's not do away with the collection day at all," he said. Trustee Hilary Scott raised a separate concern, questioning whether large items sitting on parkways every week would be "problematic" for the look of Glencoe's streets.

Timeline and what comes next

Maddux said staff expect to return to trustees by September with either a recommendation to renew or a proposal for a six-month contract extension that would push any provider transition to summer 2027. Kiraly said January is "a terrible time to do a transition from one provider to another" because of cold weather and residents being away.

Kiraly also warned that industry consolidation has left few haulers in the market. A competitive bidding process could actually drive costs higher than a direct negotiation with LRS, he said.

The village has not publicly disclosed the dollar value of the current LRS contract.

Maddux noted the contract renewal is also a chance to add food-scrap and organics collection to the base service fee, aligning with a village sustainability plan expected before the end of 2026. Staff said any service changes would be rolled out in phases.