(Posted Feb. 23, 2017)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
The London Board of Public Utilities (BPU) is taking another stab at changes to the city’s sanitation services and rates.
Council voted down a previous proposal last year. The new one keeps the pay-as-you-throw trash bags for now, replaces recycling bins with wheeled carts at no cost to residents, and includes smaller rate increases.
If the new plan is approved, the monthly fee for residential trash pick-up would go from $7.80 to $10. New 30-gallon yellow trash bags for $1.25 each would replace the 33-gallon white trash bags, which are $1. The smaller red trash bags would go from 75 cents to $1. The fee for using non-city bags would stay at $2 per bag.
The city’s sanitation workers have incurred injuries from lifting overloaded trash bags. Worker’s compensation claims are up, as a result. The change to a 30-gallon bag would reduce the bag weight by 15 to 18 pounds, said Bill Beathard, BPU member, at the Feb. 16 city council meeting.
Eventually, BPU would like to replace the bag system with trash carts to further cut down on worker’s comp claims. The plan calls for a pilot program to transition 500 residents from bags to 96-gallon carts; residents would have to pay for the carts.
As for recycling, BPU wants to replace the red and green bins with free, wheeled carts in 35-gallon and 65-gallon sizes. Beathard said BPU plans to use carryover funds and seek out grants to cover the cost of the carts. The city would own the carts. Residents would be responsible for replacing them if they are damaged, lost or stolen. The replacement cost would be $50 for the smaller cart and $65 for the larger cart.
BPU also is proposing rate increases for commercial and industrial customers. The monthly rate for three 33-gallon cans would go from $12.75 to $16. The Dumpster rate would go from $5.70 per cubic yard to $7.50 per cubic yard. Daily pick-up for small commercial customers would increase from $2.55 per cubic yard per day to $3. Additionally, special dumping rates would increase for rubbish, buildings materials and annual license fees.
About the proposed increases for residential and commercial trash services, Beathard said, “These are rates we need to bring forward to keep the sanitation department in the black.”
He noted that the city’s rate for pay-as-you-throw bags hasn’t changed since the bag system was introduced in 2005. All other sanitation rates—commercial and industrial pick-ups, special and bulky item pick-ups, and dumping—haven’t changed since 2003.
Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed sanitation changes at its April 6 meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. in council chambers, 6 E. Second St.
