A public hearing was held on Thursday where Trafalgar residents asked questions and voiced concerns about a town-wide trash collection proposal.
Jayden Kennett | Daily Journal
About a dozen people showed up to ask questions and voice opinions on Trafalgar’s proposed town-wide trash collection service Thursday.
Trafalgar’s trash talks have been contentious back and forth between residents and town council members since conversations began in January. Residents and town council members spent more than an hour at Thursday’s meeting discussing trash options for the town.
Town council members insist that they just want what is best for the town, while residents say they don’t want to be forced into service.
In January, the town council began exploring options to combat trash nuisances and the stress of multiple trash trucks on the roadways. They moved forward with a request for proposals just to explore options, despite some council members being “torn” on the issue.
Several residents spoke at February’s town council meeting, including the owner of D&L Trash Removal who said contracted services would hurt their small business. Other residents wanted things to stay the way they were. In March, residents presented the council with a petition containing around 200 signatures against the proposal causing council members to abandon the idea.
In April, D&L sold its business to Rumpke, spurring conversations at town council meetings once again. Council member Mike Peters entertained the idea of moving forward after D&L sold and taking a closer look at a petition from residents.
In June, the town council picked up where they left off and sent out a request for proposals.
Trafalgar received proposals from Best Way and Rumpke. Best Way would offer trash services for $16.98 per month for the first year of the contract and provide the town with two 40-yard dumpsters four times a year for residents to dispose of heavy trash. Rumpke would cost customers $16.75 a month with heavy trash days included on the first week of the month.
Residents question discussion
Council members made it clear that they are “not interested in forcing” contracted trash services if residents don’t want it, but were interested in exploring their options further. Despite outcry on social media, many residents showed up to Thursday’s meeting to ask questions and only a few voiced concerns.
Residents asked about opt-out options, if the proposal would add a fuel surcharge and how the dumpsters would work if they went with that proposal.
There would not be an opt-out option for residents and no fuel surcharge would be added to anyone’s bills, town council members responded.
One resident, who spoke through Zoom, asked about those who own multiple residences. Currently, his construction company takes care of the trash from his business and residential properties, he said. He questioned paying more because he owns more property.
Bryan Gregg, building commissioner and incoming town manager, broke down the numbers during public comment to compare to what residents pay per quarter. Gregg currently pays $73.48 per quarter for his trash services, he said. With one of the proposals, his cost would be lowered by $23 a quarter, he said.
Clerk-Treasurer Donna Moore asked how the town would handle trash pickup if residents don’t pay their bill. This is a concern of council member Jessica Jones as well since the town has been “eating” the costs when people don’t pay their water/sewer bill, she said.
To combat that, partial payments would be designated first to residents’ water bills, second to the trash and third to solid waste collection, town attorney Jacob Bowman said.
The town can place a lien against the property if solid waste collection is not paid, he said. That would incentivize residents to pay and allow the town to collect the back pay rather than eat the costs, he said.
Other questions from residents included contract cancellations. If the town council approves a town-wide trash collection, residents would be given “plenty of opportunity to cancel current contracts,” Bowman said.
One resident lives by herself and usually only has one bag of trash a week, she said. She has access to a dumpster where she drops trash off, so she currently is not paying anything, she said. She felt it was “ridiculous” to pay $20 for one bag of trash.
“I’m sure I’m not the only single person that has cost that’s going to be added on to something,” she said.
She also pointed out that nuisance properties probably won’t utilize trash services as the town council intends and asked how those properties would be handled.
The goal for the town council is to take care of problems that have been relaxed or forgotten about with previous town councils, Jones said. They are working on trying to make sure people follow the bylaws and ordinances of the town, she said.
Questions of control
Resident Rebecca Warren feels like no matter what residents say, the town council will “do what they want,” she said at the meeting.
“We don’t have any power at all in that is what I’m hearing … I feel like it doesn’t matter what we say because anybody on the board, or the council, is just going to do whatever they want, whatever makes them the most money, or whatever is going to make them the most money,” Warren said.
Council members refuted the claim, saying they would not make a cent off the trash pickup. Jones said she has also grown up in Trafalgar and has deep ties to the community, she said.
“What I have done actively every time I walk in this building, as well as every time I talk to a neighbor on the street. So I don’t really appreciate the tone that you came at me with, assuming that we’re doing anything for our own advantage,” Jones said.
Warren said she just felt like things were getting more expensive and coming out of resident’s pockets. She later added she believed the decision should be left up to residents.
Council member Ashley Chaney agreed with Peters and Jones, saying they are not sitting on the council for a paycheck and they want to know what the public thinks before moving forward with a decision, she said.
“It is important that our community is happy,” Chaney said. “We’re not up here for a paycheck that’s for sure. Whatever world we’re building, my babies have to live in it.”
Resident Pam Palmer said a lot of the confusion comes from a lack of communication. She sees both sides of the argument, but residents will be forced into something they don’t want, she said.
The trash is not about the cost or saving residents money, but is about “whether we have the right to choose who we want,” Warren said.
Police Chief Charles Roberts said residents shouldn’t look at is as if they are being forced, but rather they are helping them save money because they are collecting trash as a large group.
The town council did not make a decision on the trash proposals at the meeting. It is unclear as of now if anyone on the council will bring forth a motion to move forward with accepting a bid.
