Garbage plan trashed by city council

Shelbyville's city council voted Thursday night against a motion to adopt a new solid waste collection program that would include a monthly fee.

The council meeting, which frequently has no visitors, attracted about 30 citizens.

The motion would have approved the establishment of a solid waste collection program that would have consisted of automated collection of residential waste in 96 gallon container provided by the city.

The move would also have established a monthly fee of $9 and would have directed the city manager to develop a plan to implement the program to be presented later to the council for approval.

However, it was obvious that many citizens had attended the meeting to urge the council to vote the measure down.

Council member Al Stephenson passed out petitions with more than 250 signatures in opposition.

Council member Jo Ann Holland said that ever since she has been on the council, she has tried to vote for what the majority of the people wanted and that is why she was also against the idea.

"I've had lots of calls and I'm going to vote the way people asked me to vote," she said.

Another council member, Jean Pruitt, said the fee was "another cost that people don't need."

Council member Kay Rose also voted against implementing the program, saying that she had to go along with the public.

"We were trying to do something good that didn't turn out well," she said.

Thomas Landers said he voted "very much" against the program too.

The crowd applauded the council after the vote was taken.

Shelbyville uses two rear-loader trash collection trucks that are operated by three-man teams to pick up solid waste from approximately 6,800 residential customers.

Apartments and trailer parks are provided with three dumpsters, serviced weekly, and more than 200 businesses that use no more than the four 34-gallon trash containers also have their waste picked up weekly.

Shelbyville isn't charging any of these customers for the service. The proposed 2010 sanitation budget is $774,199, with $1,500 in revenue and $775,699 in expenses.

Under the proposal, the city would have provided residences with specially-designed, 96-gallon trash receptacles, which would be city property. Replacement or additional containers could have been purchased by the customer.

Had the measure been enacted, the new trucks would be able to serve 50 percent more households per day and the containers would have given the city a neater appearance.

Fees in other cities range from $9.20 (Pulaski) to $13.43 (Manchester), according to a Municipal Technical Advisory Service report.

Also, anyone on a low-income-based tax relief program would not have been required to pay the additional fee.