O'Fallon is proceeding with a process that could lead to the sale of its trash and recycling division.

Opponents failed to stop the process Thursday night when the City Council voted 5-4 against a resolution that would have killed the plan.

The city-operated Environmental Services Division picks up and processes trash and recyclables from 23,592 households. At the council's direction, the city plans to hire a consultant to develop a request for proposals for the possible sale of the division's assets. The consultant would appraise the division to determine its potential value and evaluate the potential cost to customers.

O'Fallon's Public Works Commission and Advisory Green Council voted Oct. 19 to recommend the council stop the process. The resolution before the council Thursday would have supported the boards' request, directing city staff to "cease any action recently initiated" for the potential sale of the department.

After impassioned arguments from both sides, council members Rick Lucas, Ward 1; Rose Mack and Jim Pepper, both of Ward 2; and Bob Howell and Jeff Schwentker, both of Ward 4, voted against the resolution. Bill Gardner, Ward 1; John Haman Jr., Ward 3; and Mark Perkins and Mike Pheney, both of Ward 5, voted for it. Councilman Richard Battelle, Ward 3, was absent.

About 20 people in the audience came to support the resolution, then got up and left after the council rejected it. Mack said she had to make a decision that was in the best interest of the city's 80,000 residents, not just the people in the room. Mack said the city was doing its "due diligence" by trying to determine the division's value.

Lucas and Pepper said they would not support selling the city's transfer station, considered the division's greatest asset. Lucas said the process of developing a request for proposals would benefit the city, even if it did not sell the division. Lucas said having a consultant evaluate the division would uncover ways the city could improve the operation.

Before hiring a consultant, the city would develop a request for qualifications, a set of criteria to be used to select a consultant. Haman said it would not be worth spending staff time and resources to develop the request for qualifications if the city had no intention of selling the division.

Perkins said he was 'shocked" by the council's decision. He called the division a "vital and essential service."

"It is an exercise in futility to go through this process," he said. "It doesn't benefit our residents."

Wendy Prakop, chairwoman of the Advisory Green Council, said the city should never have started the process in the first place.

"They don't want to say they are selling the department; they just want to find out what it's worth," she said. "I don't really buy that. This is the first step toward selling it."

Dennis Czajkowski, chairman of the Public Works Commission, said he did not see the benefits of selling the division. "We have a good service," he said. "We don't need to screw with it."