Franklin residents raise concerns about trash fees

Franklin residents asked city council members to reconsider the city’s decision to pass on trash fees to residents.

The cost is being passed on to residents for the first time because a new, five-year $1.7 million contract with Ray’s Trash Service is double what the city was paying in the past. It increased so much because the city was still under a contract that was first negotiated 10 years ago.

Households would pay $17.22 per month for automated weekly trash collection and bi-weekly recycling pickup starting in April. The fee includes 96-gallon bins for both trash and recycling.

The contract also includes $40,000 per year for trash collection at city buildings. That fee will be paid by the city, not passed on to residents, Mayor Steve Barnett said.

The fee would be charged to every household that pays a sewer bill, including single-family homeowners and people who rent a house or duplex. The fee does not apply to businesses or people who rent from a commercial landowner, which includes multi-family complexes with three or more units.

About a dozen residents attended a public hearing Tuesday, and most spoke publicly. The city also invited its financial consultant, Jeff Peters, and a representative from Ray’s to answer questions from the public and Franklin City Council members.

Several residents, both at the meeting and in conversations outside the meeting with city council members, asked the council to consider passing on a lower fee to residents. They were concerned the fee would put too much financial pressure on low-income residents.

The council took that under advisement and asked Peters to run the numbers on several pricing scenarios, and City Attorney Lynn Gray to adjust the ordinance establishing the fee to reflect the different scenarios.

The scenarios would include residents paying monthly fees of $8.06, $10, $12 or $17.22. The $8.06 cost would reflect the city continuing to pay the same amount officials have been paying for trash services.

If the council chooses to pass on a lesser amount initially, a fee increase schedule would be implemented to increase the cost per resident to $17.22 eventually.

Another common concern was about the size of the trash cans, and the ability of elderly residents to get the cans to their curbs without hurting themselves.

The 96-gallon cans are not much wider than the 60-gallon cans city residents use now, but are much taller and are on two wheels so residents can push them like a cart. As long as the can is not full of heavy items, it should be easy enough to push to the curb for most residents, said Calvin Davidson, project manager with Ray’s.

A Franklin Lakes resident was concerned about his Homeowners Association’s prohibition on trash cans being stored outside. With the large size of the cans, it would be hard for many in the neighborhood to store them in their garages, he said.

HOAs are independent entities that the city is unable to control. Residents of the neighborhood will have to work with the HOA on changing any rules that apply to trash cans, Gray said.

A resident who lives on Yandes Street was concerned about the switch to automated trash pickup. With parking on just one side of the street, the cars are packed together and could present a problem for trash pickup, he said.

The automated trucks are part of a national trend, but are a “one size fits most” solution. City residents, especially those who live in parts of the city with narrow streets and street parking, will have to keep a three-foot distance between their cans, and any other objects to give the truck clearance to pick up the can without damaging property, Davidson said.

Before the new trucks go into service, Ray’s will work with the city to send out educational material about automated trash pickup. The materials will be included in a future utility bill, he said.

Before deciding to go with automated trash services, the city compared the costs by asking for bids for both automation and the two-person crew method. The bid for a two-person crew was higher, and residents would have been asked to pay $18.50 per month, according to city documents.

Residents also wondered why the city council was choosing to pass on the cost now.

Barnett emphasized it was a long time coming, and leaders waited as long as possible to pass it on. Faced with the choice of continuing to foot the trash bill or giving city employees raises, he asked the council to consider passing on the cost, he said.

Because the council has a goal to underspend its revenue, passing on the cost became necessary financially, Peters said. This year, up to $1.2 million is budgeted for trash services, so the city could feasibly pay most of the trash bill, but not all of it without cutting services or reducing cash reserves, he said.

Council members debated about how much they would like to pass on, and decided to wait and see the numbers before making a decision.

Regardless of how much is passed on to city residents, the city is obligated to pay the full cost per resident until April. At a cost of $17.22 for 8,102 households, that would be more than $139,500 each month.

The council will review each scenario and make a decision at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 19th.