PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Providence leaders are running out of time to approve a $57.6 million waste management contract, which some city councilors are looking to amend before a crucial deadline.
The proposed contract with Waste Management of Rhode Island was discussed at length during a meeting of the Providence City Council’s Finance Committee last week. If the contract is not approved by July 1, the city risks not having a waste management provider.
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Councilors agreed they did not want to recommend approval of the contract outright last week, but said they didn’t want to continue the discussion to the next finance meeting since the matter was time sensitive. City leaders ultimately referred the five-year contract to the full council without a recommendation on what to do so that the rest of the council could weigh in.
On Thursday, city councilors are slated to discuss a resolution requesting an amendment to the proposed contract, which includes services for removing yard waste, Christmas trees, bulky items and large electrical appliances referred to as white goods.
The proposed contract stipulated the company would provide 37 weeks of yard-waste services and three weeks to pick up Christmas trees…