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City Trash Bins on the Way

Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Daniel Mcnamara, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

Jan. 14--High costs and high turnover rates among employees prompted the city of Jacksonville to can its old trash collection system during budget talks last year.

Local residents will soon see the first manifestations of the new plan, set to take effect this summer, when workers begin distributing 11,000 brand new trash carts, devices that have come to symbolize the city's overhaul.

Rising gas costs and workers compensation claims led the city to switch from a twice-a-week, backyard pick up system that used the customers' own waste receptacles to once-a-week, curbside collection utilizing the 90-gallon city-owned trash carts.

Last week, the city received its first shipment of 588 navy blue trash carts emblazoned with the words "City of Jacksonville, NC." Over the next 20 to 23 weeks, city workers will begin distributing the carts, beginning in the North Commons area and heading southwest toward the city public works complex.

The delivered carts won't be entirely empty. The city is including informational brochures along with the new carts, in order to sell the public on a system the city says will provide adequate service while saving taxpayers money.

But the new system has already generated a steady stream of complaints from residents wary of the change.

Some have criticized the once-a-week policy as a potential nuisance, forcing residents to leave their waste stewing in the summer heat. Others have objected to the conversion into a curbside service, arguing seniors and the handicapped won't be able to move the bulky carts.

By that same token, the size of the carts has caught flack, too, both by residents who say the carts are too big for easy handling and those who say they are too small to contain their weekly waste.

In response, city staff point out that very few communities still provide twice-a-week or, for that matter, back-yard service.

"It's an expensive system that we have here," said Kerry Terrell, city sanitation superintendent.

And staff say they will relax curbside requirement for those residents incapable of maneuvering the leviathan containers.

The city is still considering how it will deal with excess waste and items too large to fit into the containers. Some of the options include allowing residents one large item per week, providing trash customers with stickers to place on items not contained within the carts, such as appliances and furniture, and a requirement that customers who habitually overfill carts buy an additional cart.

"I think that what most of the people have to realize is if they use the recycling program in conjunction with this, they should have enough (dumping capacity)," Terrell said.

Cost questions

The new program also has some residents questioning the costs involved. In order to install the program, the city was forced to purchase around 12,000 carts at $52 apiece. The city also had to outfit each of its garbage trucks with two, $1,900 cart lifts.

Opponents of the new trash collection system have raised concerns over how the city will finance the outlay.

City Council voted unanimously in December to maintain the current trash collection fee of $5.07 per month. Trash customers will not be required to pay for the carts.

Beginning February, the city will scratch the $1.80 recycling fee from monthly utility bills. Curbside recycling will continue to pick up the same materials on the same days; however, city staff will provide the service instead of an outside contractor, eliminating the need for the fee.

And city staff and MSW Consultants, the firm hired to help implement the new trash collection system, contend that the long-term savings will more than cover for the initial investment.

John Culbertson, an MSW representative, said the new system will save the city $3.5 million over the next 10 years. The savings, he said, will come from a massive reduction in injuries leading to workers-compensation claims and a gradual decrease in personnel.

In 2004, forages through sometimes hazardous yards and the strain of lifting heavy cans led sanitation workers to rack up $300,000 in workers comp claims. Terrell said that injuries typically ranged from sprained ankles to strained shoulders.

The reduced workload and risk of danger should also help the city retain its sanitation employees, who are subject to a high rate of turnover, Terrell said.

Contact Daniel McNamara at dmcnamara@freedomenc.com or 353-1171 Ext. 237.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C.

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Source: The Daily News

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