by James Coulter
Do you have yard waste you need to dispose of? Well, you’ll have to check your calendar, because pickup services have been changed from every week to every other week, now that the City of Lake Wales has amended its solid waste services contract.
At their meeting on Tues. Mar. 4, 2025, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to approve the second reading of an ordinance amending the city’s solid waste services contract with Republic Services of Florida.
The amendment corrects a “clerical error” made within the city’s five-year contract with Republic Services, which had been approved in Oct. 2024. Under this change, bulk and yard waste pickup will be scheduled from weekly to biweekly, which had been negotiated for the new contract.
“This change was done to try to keep the solid waste costs down for the citizens,” Sandra D. Davis, Human Resources Director, wrote in the agenda memo.
This change affects residents living within Lake Wales city limits and the new schedule will begin April 1.
Once-a-week pickup would have cost city residents $27.58, whereas every other-week pickup would have cost them $25.51. Overall, the difference will be $2.07 per month or $24.84 per year.
