Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Convenience trash stations proposed in solid waste ordinance

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

A proposed solid waste ordinance for the county will come before the commission and the public at 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, for a second public hearing. The proposed ordinance would only apply to people living in the unincorporated areas of the county.

The commission will not take action on the ordinance on Wednesday; the meeting is for public input and review of the ordinance by the commissioners.

The ordinance would establish a mandatory solid waste fee to be paid by all residential property owners. County manager Eric Zamora said Tuesday morning that the fee would create an enterprise fund to be used for the establishment of a formal county solid waste program. Currently, the county is considering a monthly fee of $5 to $7 for the use of convenience stations.

Zamora said the ordinance does not mandate curbside pickup. He said the ordinance is the first step in establishing a county solid waste program. "If the ordinance passes, the first phase we would look at is the establishment of convenience centers," Zamora said. "We want to place them in areas that will help keep people from having to truck their trash all over the county."

The manager said tentative locations for the convenience centers are Highland Meadows, Meadow Lake, Jarales, Rio Communities and El Cerro Mission.

Once the convenience stations are established and the program is running smoothly, Zamora said, the county might look at mandatory curbside pickup. "But that could put us in the position of competing with our franchise haulers," he said. "We want to do what is most convenient for the customers. We don't want to get in a bidding war with the haulers; this is about providing people with options."

Zamora said the ordinance would include specific language about covering trash during transport.

"That was something specifically asked for by community members," he said. "We want to bring the ordinance back to the commission and the public with that paragraph in place."

If the ordinance is passed and the convenience centers are established, Zamora said, Conejo transfer station would remain open. "We are looking at taking things there that we currently don't accept," he said. "For instance, we don't take branches and stumps or tires. We might begin to take those kinds of things."

He went on to say that Conejo would also remain as the disposal point for white goods - things such as washers, dryers and stoves. "We would have to continue to charge for the white goods and may have fees for the other things," Zamora said.

Part of the mandatory fee system would include identification cards so that those who are paying the monthly fee wouldn't be charged to dump their regular solid waste at Conejo.

Other options Zamora said the county is looking at are monthly fees for access to the transfer station. For instance, Socorro County charges around $70 per month, which entitles people to a certain number of visits to the dump every few weeks, he said.

Even with Conejo remaining open for business, the fee will be mandatory for all residential property owners who have property that generates solid waste. "It's really an all or nothing deal," Zamora said. "Everyone will be assessed the fee. If they already have a contract for curbside pick-up, that will be taken into consideration and we will waive most of the fee."

Zamora said at the first public hearing on the ordinance, commissioners had expressed concerns on how to make the program equitable. "If someone already has trash pickup, it's not fair to charge them the whole fee," he said.

At the first public hearing Commissioner Ron Gentry asked if the new proposed ordinance would apply to commercial property, nonprofits, churches or community centers. Zamora replied that it would not.

"All of those generate more solid waste than any household," Gentry said. Zamora pointed out that commercial property owners and multi-family dwelling units such as apartment complexes are already required to provide solid waste disposal under an existing ordinance.

The proposed ordinance requires that an owner of every mobile home park or multi-family residential development consisting of five or more units shall provide for the collection of no less than .5 cubic yards of solid waste weekly per residential unit. Additional containers can be ordered placed at such units at the discretion of the county manager, the ordinance says.

Gentry also wanted to know how the county was going to determine whom they were going to bill. Zamora said all residential property owners would be entered into a database and those with private hauler contracts would then be noted.

"Who will build the database and where will the information come from?" Gentry asked. Zamora said the county was working with the Torrance County Solid Waste Authority in developing the program and the database.

"Their program is a little different in that it involves the county and the municipalities, but we think we can successfully model our program after theirs," he said.

Lisa Oberg of the solid waste authority said tax rolls are the most accurate way to establish which property owners would go into the database.

Gentry asked if residential property owners would be assessed the fee if there were no house on the property. Oberg said, if that was the case, the property owner could appeal the fee and if it were proven that no house existed and thus no solid waste was generated by the property, the owner would qualify for an exemption or partial reduction of the fee.

Zamora said that the fee would be established by resolution so that the county can make adjustments to the fee schedule and exemptions without having to revise the entire ordinance.

The intent of the ordinance is to establish fees for people who don't fall under the existing ordinance, which allows them to take advantage of the private haulers but doesn't require them to do so, Zamora said. "We have suggested $5 as a starting point to get an idea of what we would get that would go towards the establishment of a solid waste program beginning with convenience stations," he said.

Zamora again emphasized that the existing ordinance provides for the ability for people to contract with haulers but it is not mandatory. "It's a matter of you get what you pay for - at $5 to $7 per month, you will still have to handle and transport your own trash," he said. "Hopefully, the convenience centers will cut down on their driving time and the amount of trash along the roads."

At $5 per month, Zamora said, it is estimated the mandatory solid waste fees could generate $500,000 per year.

* See Solid waste, Page 10A

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