Despite dire warnings by its opponents, St. Louis County’s trash collection districts in the unincorporated area are turning out the way officials had intended.

County Executive Charlie Dooley took plenty of political heat from irate residents, mainly from south St. Louis County, who were upset about losing their haulers and worried about what would replace them. The opening on Wednesday of bids for serving the last of the districts appeared to reward the county executive for the trouble he encountered.

Now that bid openings apparently have determined the haulers in each of eight districts:

> No householder will pay more than $13.29 a month for basic service in the three years of each contract. That service consists of once-a-week trash and recyclables pick ups and twice-a-year bulky waste collection. The basic service eliminates a monthly fee of between $6 and $8 that many haulers in the unincorporated area have charged for the added service of collecting recyclables.

> Trash contracts would be spread among haulers. The most any single hauler would have is three. Each of three bid sessions drew seven companies who bid on at least one district.

> A smaller trash hauling company won contracts to serve Lemay, Mehlville and Oakville.

County officials still have to review the bids and ask the county council to approve the contracts. They expect service to begin in District 3 in North and West St. Louis County on July 1 and in the remaining districts on Oct. 1.

Dooley and top county officials had said the districts would bring significant savings to householders. They predicted haulers would strongly compete for the work. They said the bidding process would not put small haulers out of business automatically.

The county prohibits bidders from imposing surcharges, such as the expensive fuel ones that many households have seen in recent months in the unincorporated area. The contracts also provide a 10 percent discount for elderly householders.

Many householders, particularly in south St. Louis County, doubted the county could wring a good price from the haulers. They also worried that the county would hand one or two big companies a monopoly for trash collection and that the process would drive small haulers out of business.

Large haulers apparently won six of the eight contracts:

> IESI in Districts 1 and 2 in from east of Florissant through Spanish Lake to the Mississippi River.

> Veolia Environmental Services in Districts 3, 4 and 7 in North and West St. Louis County and Sappington-Concord.

> Allied Waste LLC in District 5 in Affton.

Aspen Waste Systems, who was competitive, but not successful earlier, on Wednesday outbid the large companies to serve Districts 6 and 8 which cover Lemay, Mehlville and Oakville.

The reaction in the government center to Aspen’s victory was “Aspen who?”

Chris St. Peters, Aspen’s general manager, did not return a phone call, but the company’s website gave some information.

Aspen is based in Earth City and considers the area from Wood River and Troy, Ill., to Arnold and Wentzville its territory. It provides both residential and commercial waste collection service. Among its commercial services are recycling and collection of construction and demolition waste. The company also operates in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota.

Dooley called the bid opening “a great day for St. Louis County.”

With the apparent bids providing trash collection at a cost lower than what most households pay, Dooley said “the county delivered great value to the citizens.”

The contracts “will expand recycling leaving less items in landfills. It will preserve landfills for a long time,” he said. They are is good for the economy, he said.

Celeste Witzel of Oakville, one of the most outspoken opponents of the district, said the critics are not giving up.

The main issue is not price, but “freedom of choice, the ability to choose our haulers even if it costs a few dollars more,” she said.

“What happens three years from now?” when the county may have fewer haulers, she asked. Costs could go up sharply in the next round of bids, she said.

The bid results may threaten such smaller companies as American Eagle or Bob’s Disposal Service, she said.