City looks at waste disposal contract

City councilmen will likely renew Kilgore's contract with Allied Waste for another year but said they would seek bids before that extension ends in October 2010. However, no action was taken Tuesday night to extend the contract.

Representatives from IESI Corporation and Allied, both with regional headquarters in Kilgore, came before the council to talk about their companies.

Marketing director Dick Demien of Rowlett said his company, IESI TX Corporation, would hire local employees, invest in equipment and take part in community service projects, local clubs and organizations.

Gene Keenon of Kilgore said his company, Allied, has been employing people here for 20 years, with 99 workers based at his office, which is the hub for the 25 other cities Allied serves in East Texas.

The city's contract with Allied, formerly Laidlaw, Olympic/Allied and now Republic/Allied is 20 years old this year, and includes several contract extensions.

Demien said the contract should be tested in "the competitive open market" and told the council "renewing the contract for a year in order to review the performance of the existing contractor provides no benefit to your citizens."

The IESI official said his company employs 52 at its Kilgore office on Hwy. 135 North, which it leases, and is the operations center for the company's East Texas customers, which include the cities of Henderson, Whitehouse, New London and Big Sandy, New Summerfield, Noonday and the Holly Lake Ranch Home Owners Association.

IESI operates the East Texas Landfill in Henderson.

A news release handed out at the council meeting states IESI's annual payroll in East Texas is more than $2.7 million.

IESI was founded in 1995 in Justin, near Denton, and is "one of the largest publicly traded commercial waste collectors in the United States," with operations in 10 states that service 1 million residential customers, including 250 cities in Texas, according to the media release.

"I have never taken this contract for granted," Allied rep Keenon said. "Kilgore is unique. It's home base for our whole area. We serve all of our other cities from here."

Allied's annual payroll is $4.2 million and the company offers good benefits, Keenon said. Nationwide, Allied employs 35,000 in 42 states. Keenon said the Fortune 500 company has been named by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 100 companies in the U.S.

Allied's plant is located on Hwy. 42 North in Kilgore and after the meeting Kennon said the company had invested about $300 million here through the past two decades.

It operates a landfill north of Kilgore in Gregg County.

"We're a local success story," Keenon said. "We hire the best, offer the best wages and customer service, community participation and fair prices."

Keenon, who started with Laidlaw on the back of a trash truck in Henderson and for the past dozen years has been Allied's governmental affairs manager, said he's not one to blow his own horn, but his boss told him to do so for the council.

He said he is personally involved with several community groups and Allied donates about $20,000 annually to local charities and organizations, including KISD's KYSSED drug-free program, Kilgore Improvement and Beautification Association, the East Texas Pump Jacks, Texas Shakespeare Festival, Kilgore Historical Preservation Foundation and others.

"And I know that in the last 12 years, no special event or festival has paid for Dumpsters. I always furnish those for free, to help them save their money and be successful. I know my competition and no others do as much as I do," Keenon said.

On a personal level, Keenon, who has lived in Kilgore for 20 years, is active in local organizations, including KIBA, United Fund, Kilgore Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. He and his wife founded the Kilgore 4-H program and serve as adult leaders for its 50 participants. Keenon said he is a past member of the East Texas Treatment Center board of directors and cochaired a gala fundraiser for Laird Memorial Hospital.

He told the council he has been personally attacked, in the past, by an IESI employee because his photo has been in the newspaper so many times. He said Randy Renshaw, councilman, has joked in the past, "One of the most dangerous places to be in Kilgore is between Gene Keenon and a News Herald photographer."

Keenon said he understands IESI's desire to obtain Kilgore as a customer because Allied will bid for Henderson's business when its contract expires next year, but he asked the council to consider his and his company's performance here and continue its contract with Allied.

Allied's other East Texas customers are Arp, Athens, Brownsboro, Bullard, Center, Clarksville City, Daingerfield, Gladewater, Gun Barrel City, Hawkins, Lindale, Linden, Malakoff, Marshall, Mineola, Mt. Pleasant, Overton, Palestine, Quitman, Rusk, Star Harbor, Troup, Warren City, White Oak and Winona.