Evanston will continue to sell yard waste stickers at Home Depot after the company agreed this week to pay the city thousands of dollars it owed in sticker fees, said Dave Stoneback, Evanston’s public works agency director.
Evanston issued a press release earlier this week stating that a local Home Depot store located at 2201 Oakton St. owed the city, and by extension its taxpayers, more than $15,000 for yard waste stickers, and due to lack of payment it would no longer sell the stickers at the home improvement store. The release stated that most of the invoices submitted to the company were at least a year overdue.
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Evanston officials also said they would no longer purchase goods from the company due it its failure to compensate the city “after it repeatedly attempted to collect these funds.” Evanston officials spent nearly $120,000 on goods from Home Depot through both in-store and online purchases last year.
A spokesperson for Home Depot, Matt Harrigan, said the company looked into the matter after learning about the press release and discovered an “honest mixup with the invoices that led to the delay, and we cleared it up with the city on Monday.”
“We value our relationship with Evanston, and we’re truly sorry for the confusion on our part,” he added.
The community engagement coordinator for Evanston, Patrick Deignan, confirmed that Home Depot had reached out to the city and “indicated that they would resolve their unpaid balance this week.” Once the money is received, the city will continue selling the stickers at the store, but only if the company pays in advance for the items, Stoneback said. He said city staff will also begin purchasing goods from the store once again.
Stoneback said the city first contacted Home Depot about the missing payments in December. He said the city’s legal department also sent a letter to the local store’s manager and the company’s corporate office.
“We didn’t get a response (from Home Depot) until we did this press release,” Stoneback said.
All proceeds from yard waste stickers are returned to the city, and stores that sell them do not receive a cut of the profits, Deignan said.
Residents who discard yard waste in paper bags must attach a yard waste sticker to the bag in order for the city to haul it away, according to the city’s website. Residents can also purchase the stickers at two Jewel Osco locations in Evanston and one on Green Bay Road in Wilmette, at Lemoi Ace Hardware, the city collector’s office inside the Morton Civic Center, the Levy Senior Center and the Chalet Nursery on Lake Avenue in Wilmette.
In lieu of using yard waste bags and stickers, residents can instead buy a reusable yard waste cart online at cityofevanston.org/yardwaste or in person at the city collector’s office.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.