Revised Trash and Recycling Rules for Vote Tuesday March 20

Tuesday, March 20, 2018, at 7pm at City Hall, your mayor and council will have a final vote on the proposed trash and recycling rules. After receiving a great deal of feedback from residents, the council has revised the proposed trash and recycling rules for the city.

Click here to see a Google Docs version

The conversation dates back to fall 2017, when the council considered the following proposal (shared from Councilman Luke Chesek's email on the topic):

1. Purchasing both 45 gallon trash carts with wheels and attached lids, and 65 gallon recycling carts with wheels and attached lids for each single family home - with an opt-out process for each home. The implementation would include a process for the City to both pick up each home's current trash and recycling bins (if residents choose to get rid of their current receptacles) and, subsequently, drop off the new carts free of charge.
2. Outfitting our Public Works garbage trucks with mechanical lifts that would lift the new trash and recycling carts, relieving the physical strain currently required of our Public Works staff. The resulting improvements would save approximately one hour off each trash and recycling run, where Public Works staff could be reassigned to other needed tasks.
3. A robust public outreach and communication effort that would notify residents when and how this change would take effect, including information on how to opt-out.

The City has conservatively estimated that these investments would cost $114,000 after requesting and receiving offers from vendors. It is proposed that the City would pay for this through current unused funds from fiscal year 2018 by way of a budget amendment. These investments would not require the raising of any taxes. 

Also included in the budget amendment to fund this proposal is a $34,000 down payment for a third garbage truck with a mechanical lift. This was approved of in fiscal year 2017 due to the need to replace the City's third garbage truck. However, since the purchase did not occur in fiscal year 2017, the City must include the price of the down payment in the current budget amendment. As a result, the proposed budget amendment equals $148,000 - the $114,000 cited above and the $34,000 down payment for a new truck. The City would use the unused fiscal year 2017 funds for the down payment.