Top Moline cop says he needs more officers, city flirts with curb-side recycling

Not only myself, but several aquaintences have mentioned how it seems that the city of Moline is crawling with police, much more than other towns in the area. So it was a bit surprising to read that the department is requesting the hiring of six new officers at an initial cost of nearly a half million dollars.

According to council documents, the department needs six new officers for the operations division, a predatory sex crimes investigator, a sergeant to be in charge of professional standards administration, and an evidence and court coordination officer.

The Moline council also heard that the automated garbage program is going well, and showed a willingness to at least investigate curbside recycling.

Public works director Mike Waldron is scheduled to give a report on curbside recycling and automated waste pick-up which he said is going very well.
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Aldermen asked staff to review curbside recycling options and according to Mr. Waldron, the cost of curbside recycling would depend on what kind of carts or bins are used and if it is done in-house or contracted out.

According to council documents, staff is recommending that any curbside program be self-supporting and a recycling fee be implemented to cover any costs. To figure out what those costs would be, staff wants permission to ask for proposals from outside companies for curbside pick-up on a weekly, bi-weekly and/or monthly curbside recycling program.

Mr. Waldron said Rock Island has shown some interest in finding out the costs of curbside recycling, too, and the two cities may ask for combined requests for proposals to see if there are any economies of scale.