HANCOCK — Picking up trash and recycling in Hancock will once again be handled by the city.

The Hancock City Council voted to have the Department of Public Works begin providing the services by Sept. 1.

The biggest reason? Cost. The city currently contracts with Waste Management at an annual cost of $210,000 to $220,000.

That amount more than doubled, to $437,119.20, in the bid Waste Management submitted for a new contract.

“That’s what opened the discussion with (the DPW) about us taking it back in house,” City Manager Mary Babcock said.

A quote from Patriot came in lower, at $396,389.13. However, the city would have needed to absorb all the tipping fees.

Handling trash and recycling itself was the cheapest option of the three for the city, at an estimated $391,927.41.

“Personally, I think it’s a good idea,” said DPW Director John Erickson. “We should be able to save a lot of money.”

A two-person team will be used on the truck, Babcock said. To make that feasible, the city will hire another full-time worker.

Trash pickup would likely stay the same, split between Mondays and Wednesdays, Babcock said. However, recycling would need to be done at a different time. Babcock said the goal would be to complete it in one day, probably Tuesday. In another change, people will not be able to recycle glass, which can damage the quality of other recyclable materials if it breaks.

The sticker system for trash bags will keep going for at least another year. Had the city gone with Waste Management, it would have moved to a flat fee of $20.65 per stop, Babcock said.

“The people, if they don’t use very much garbage, will still have some savings over the people who have 10 bags of garbage,” she said. “That’s kind of the goal here, is to give some incentive to recycle, not just flat charge across the board.”

In preparation, the council approved the purchase of a new garbage truck for $248,000.

Erickson said city operations would also be cleaner. With the Waste Management automated system, workers had not gotten out of the truck.

“We’ll go door to door, pick it up,” he said. “If the bag breaks, we’ll sweep it up, rake it up, throw it in the back of the truck.”

Council members backed the change. It would take about five-and-a-half years for the cost savings to offset the expense of buying the truck, even before repairs, Councilor Richard Freeman, Jr. But he felt the change is worth it.

“Even if we don’t break even, the customer service is going to be so much better,” he said. “And John and the rest of the guys who work for Public Works actually care about the city.”

Mayor Pro Tem Lisa McKenzie had been on the council back when Hancock originally switched to Waste Management. At that time, she said, it made financial sense. Now, she said, “it’s time to bring it home.”

“Doing it ourselves will give us more freedom to make the right choices to increase our recycling and our use and reduce our costs and be able to do more,” she said. “And when the plans are all done, there will be money for equipment grants from (the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) … that hopefully will be able to sustain our fleet into the future.”