Karnes City residents soon will be seeing new faces at the curbside on trash pickup days, along with a $4-a-month bill increase.

Council members there agreed to accept the proposal from waste collection company IESI during their regular meeting August 28 just two months after current provider Waste Management announced they would no longer be serving the area.

The move from Waste Management to IESI will result in an increase of $4.12 on residential customers’ monthly refuse bills, moving the total from $13.98 to $18.10.

Karnes City Administrator Larry Pippen said bids submitted from other companies were too high and the initial start-up cost of privatizing the city’s garbage collection was too high.

The proposal from IESI underwent a few minor changes at the hands of the city’s attorney and now will pass to IESI lawyers before coming back to council for a final approval.

IESI District Municipal Marketing Manager Jim Hare had positive words at the meeting.

"We’re proud to have Karnes City," he said.

Council members also made some declarations regarding their representatives on the Karnes County Economic Development Corporation board, but stopped short of submitting items for a vote.

Official decisions were postponed for the next meeting, but council members were vocal on several items concerning their representation on the board.

Council member Leroy Skloss said he wanted to require quarterly reports from board members coinciding with their quarterly meetings.

All five council members indicated they wanted representation that has an interest in attending economic development meetings and being involved with the city council.

Currently, Karnes City only has one representative on the board, but is entitled to two. Council agreed to meet a week later to choose the second member.

Pippen also brought up a few concerns regarding traffic signs in the city.

He recommended council vote to replace yield signs with stop signs on the north and south ends of the intersection at Davidson and Cruz streets, citing safety concerns.

"Davidson is a long stretch. Long stretches do create problems," he said, adding that some residents in the area have complained to him about several times they had nearly been hit by vehicles not yielding at the intersection.

"We have had some close ones, from what I’ve been told," he said.

Council members also discussed some areas of town where yield signs were completely concealed by tree growth. They instructed Pippen to call property owners responsible for those trees and have them remove the obstructions quickly.