GULF SHORES, Ala. — Gulf Shores is considering a one-year extension from Allied Waste for its residential garbage franchise. There is a provision for an extension in the current contract that expires at the end of the year.

“The only reason I would ask that you consider this is that it would lock in our current fee schedule for one additional year, and in an unstable economic climate, that might be a good thing,” said Public Works director Mark Acreman during a recent council meeting. “In October we would be soliciting for RFP’s for the residential franchise, but this would allow us to at least lock in what we’ve got now for another year.”

Acreman also called to the attention of the council information about Magnolia Landfill entering into a contract with an outside group that plans to come in and construct a single-stream recycling center at the landfill.

“That means all garbage everywhere in the county that goes to that landfill will be sorted and, according to them, 60 to 80 percent of recyclable materials will be removed from the garbage stream,” Acreman said. “Whether or not that is going to be successful I do not know. If it is, it could allow us to eliminate the recycling requirement because we would be double dipping in a sense that everything is being recycled; then it would make no sense for us to require an additional recycling provision in our garbage franchise.”

Acreman says that the city could evaluate the situation and consider it if it is a modification that needs to be made.

“It could generate some savings to the community which everybody has been after for quite some time,” he said.

Presently, the Magnolia Landfill is where the garbage is dumped. The new program would eliminate the need for a Wednesday pick-up of recyclable material since all garbage would be going through the recycling process on Monday and Thursday.