A new app will soon be available that will provide Columbus residents with personalized information ranging from trash and leaf pickup times to anticipated snow removal.
The city has approved a one-year, $6,986 contract with ReCollect Systems, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based software company specializing in digital solutions for the waste management sector.
When the web-based subscription service goes on line a few months from now, Columbus residents will be able to use an app on their mobile phones to receive reminders, according to Bryan Burton, Columbus director of public works.
It will notify residents of their trash day, schedule changes due to holidays, updates on when snow will be plowed on streets, notifications on curbside leaf pickup, and upcoming composting opportunities, Burton said.
These notifications can also be sent to email accounts for those who don’t wish to obtain the app, he said. In either case, the data will be specific to each address, so no person has to go through extensive city-wide schedules, the public works director said.
Besides English, these notifications can be made in Spanish and possibly other languages, Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop said.
ReCollect is also providing what they call the “Waste Wizard” that will be placed on the Public Works page of the city of Columbus’ website, Burton said. It lets residents know if a waste product should go into trash or in a particular recycling bin, he said.
But besides assisting residents, the new service should also help city employees increase their productivity in two ways.
First, it will keep track of the items most people are inquiring about in terms of proper disposal, so that solid waste management and public works personnel will have a better idea on where waste management education is needed, Burton said. He cites styrofoam and box spring mattresses as two items that receive many inquiries.
In addition, the service is expected to cut waste management-related phone calls from the public by 20%, according to Mary Ferdon, the city’s executive director of administration and community development.
“I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised at the benefits when people have this information at their fingertips,” Ferdon said. “A lot of people are into apps, so it’s really good timing to get something like this.”
If the service becomes popular, the annual cost to extend the contract with ReCollect Systems will rise to just over $8,000 a year. But since it’s a year-to-year contract, the city of Columbus can drop the service if it is not popular, Burton said.
Even though the city approved obtaining the service, Ferdon said it could take two or three months to provide the contacts, addresses and other data that ReCollect Systems requires to get the services online in Columbus.
However, notices will be sent out through both traditional and social media that will explain how residents can sign up to receive either the app or the email notices early next year, Burton said.
