In February, the council agreed to extend its contract for the city's trash service with Waste Management without putting it out to bid.
The recommendation to continue with the company came from the council's sanitation committee, which is made up of council members John Beresford, Bill Bryan, Bob Rush and Pat Tanner.
In March, with the contract not yet finalized, Mayor Gene Hobgood expressed his desire to seek bids for the contract instead, which the council supported.
Three companies submitted proposals for the solid waste contract: Advanced Disposal, North Metro Waste and Waste Management.
Council members on Thursday night viewed a summary of the three proposals. A decision is expected to be made at the council meeting on July 15.
"I think we made a wise decision," Hobgood said about seeking bids.
He asked city staff for the July 15 meeting to prepare a chart of how the three companies compare over various categories.
For curbside residential pickup, the cost to the city each month would be $10.15 per customer under Waste Management's proposal, $12.85 for North Metro Waste's proposal and $17 for Advanced. The rates are for a four-year agreement.
Currently, the city pays Waste Management $13.37 a month per customer for the service.
The committee's extension proposal would have continued the service at the same rate for another six months.
Beresford, who said he was opposed to the committee's initial recommendation to extend the contract, has recommended the council approve a four-year agreement.
Beresford said the council is "obligated" to go through the bid process for such contracts.
"We owed it to the citizens to find out if we are getting a good deal or not," he said.
Also during the meeting, Steve Nelson, president of the Canton Paw Park Association, asked the council to review all land owned by the city government in search of a potential dog park.
He said the land allocated in the new Etowah River Park for a dog park is not appropriate.
"We believe that area was an afterthought," he said, noting there is no parking immediately beside the dog park and a marshy area is next to it. "There has got to be some property somewhere in the city that would be appropriate."
City Manager Scott Wood welcomed Nelson to review the list of city-owned properties and invited the association to visit the sites and pick out a location they think would work best for a dog park.
The Canton Paw Park Association is to meet Tuesday to decide whether to continue with plans to use the land in Etowah River Park.
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