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Council panel dumps trash proposal |
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Tuesday, 18 November 2008 |
At least for the time being, the city of Benton won’t be getting into the trash collection business.
A proposed ordinance that would have given the Benton Public Utility Commission the duty to develop a sanitation utility service to mandate citywide solid waste collection, and ultimately include curbside recycling, was shot down Monday night in the council’s Community Services Committee meeting.
First-term Alderman Greg White developed plans for the proposed service, which drew widespread criticism. Among those critical of his proposal were independent trash haulers, who feared they would lose their businesses, and residents who objected to losing their freedom to choose their haulers.
Residents have opposed the idea of a trash collection service bill being added to their Benton Utilities bills, which they say already are high, particularly for people on a fixed income.
The proposal, as White conceived it, would have divided the city into specific zones and selected companies would be allowed to serve those areas.
When a vote was taken on whether to submit the ordinance to the full council at its next meeting, only two votes were cast in favor of it. Those came from Aldermen Larry Wolf and Steve Lee. Even White, who has campaigned on this issue for more than two years, voted “no,” saying he realized he had lost his battle.
Shortly after the vote, White, visibly upset, left the meeting.
During the meeting, which was heated at times, White contended that he had the support of many residents for his proposal, citing as proof that he campaigned under the recycling banner and recently was re-elected to a second term.
This prompted resident Patricia Ashley, who opposed White’s proposal, to say, “Greg, they just let you have another chance to do right.”
Several aldermen said they have received numerous calls from residents who oppose White’s plan.
Alderman David Sparks said “98 percent of them” oppose any kind of mandatory service. “They don’t like the idea of being told they have to do this, but many are doing voluntary recycling,” he said.
White has contended that recycling could not be successful unless it becomes a curbside service included with mandated citywide solid waste collection.
Jill Jones, executive director of the Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission, disagreed with that premise, telling White that while she considers recycling “a noble cause for any city,” she didn’t want to see the door closed on other possible ways to offer the service.
Jones said it’s obvious that local residents don’t want the citywide collection service and she said she doesn’t want “to see the door closed on the local haulers who are doing a good job.”
Residents Nate Bienhoff and Gary Beck, who were present, want to begin a voluntary recycling program, New Focus, and have sought the city’s support for this effort.
“I think there’s a way to do both,” Jones said in reference to residents retaining their own haulers and New Focus initiating its program.
The proposed ordinance the council was considering would have included a set fee for the service, not to exceed $19.50 per month. This, according to Aldermen Doug Stracener and Bill Donnor, would have required the PUC to provide the service for that set amount.
The council would be “dictating this to the PUC” if the ordinance were approved, Stracener said.
And if the $19.50 per customer charge did not prove enough to pay for the service, adjustments likely would have been made in other utility charges, Donnor said.
Recently, the council inquired about PUC conducting a feasibility study on the issue, but some of the aldermen Monday night said they were of the opinion that the PUC would not conduct the study unless the work they were undertaking would be binding and develop into the trash collection service. Also at issue was which city entity would take care of the cost of such a study.
Alderman Joe Lee Richards said he is against the proposal and said he has heard from many residents who oppose it. “My phone has rung off the wall,” he said.
Richards said he supports the New Focus concept for recycling. “Nate’s got a good idea,” he said. “I don’t know why we have to tie that into this.”
Beck told aldermen that he believes he and Bienhoff will be able to “get the city where it wants to be by 2010 with its program while allowing the free enterprise system to continue on solid waste collection.”
Donnor said he believes that the city would be “on slippery slope” with the issue. “We’re a government entity telling private enterprise they can’t do something,” he said.
Donnor said the independent haulers are “out there doing a good job. They’re working and feeding their families, and it’s not my job to tell them they can’t do it. Where do we go next?”
White told Donnor that the city, according to state statute, has the authority to mandate the service and tell residents they cannot use the independent haulers.
Donnor, though, disagreed with the fairness of that, saying, “The system is not broken and doesn’t need fixing.”
Richards said he doesn’t feel it would be right to “tell 27,000 people that this is the way we want it to be.”
The only way he would go along with the plan would be if it were approved “by a vote of the people,” Richards said.
Marvin McCallister said mandating citywide trash collection would not be fair to many older residents, including his sister, who accumulate very little trash, have worked out their own means of disposal and cannot afford another charge on their utility bills.
McCallister also told White he has overstepped his authority and said, “You’re supposed to take care of your district. You’re pushing too much.”
Resident Shannon Moss said he is on a fixed income and has worked out an arrangement for free trash disposal. “It would be asinine for me to pay for a service that I don’t need,” he said.”We just don’t want it,” Ashley said.
At one point, White contended that the city is in violation of state regulations regarding solid waste collection by allowing the current independent haulers to work here, but Stracener disagreed. “We are in compliance,” he said.
Moss suggested that White’s opinion on the issue be presented to the city attorney for an opinion.
After the vote was taken on whether to proceed further with the issue, Mayor Rick Holland volunteered to conduct a mail-out survey to garner residents’ opinions on a citywide service, but the aldermen declined.
“That would be a waste of time,” Wolf said. “The people don’t want it.”
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Razorbacks
