Title
Solid Waste Collection in Downtown Area (NB)
The City Commission referred the issue of Solid Waste Collection in the downtown area to the Recreation, Cultural Affairs, and Public Works Committee for discussion.
Explanation
Solid Waste issues downtown have been more subdued the past few months as individual businesses have worked with the haulers and with each other to find workable solutions to their specific situations. Solid Waste Division has intervened in some situations where certain businesses stopped paying their hauler for service, and/or disposed of their trash illegally in someone else's dumpster. Our efforts have been more effective at resolving these issues than they were under the former system. However, a number of ongoing issues remain:
· A few businesses on the east side of S. Main Street are still using the unsightly temporary enclosure in the City parking lot next to the Post Office because they have no space on their property where they can put garbage overnight.
· A number of businesses on both sides of S. Main Street don't have any place to store their trash and recycling receptacles except on the sidewalk; and a couple of businesses that were using narrow alleys behind their establishments have run afoul of the Fire Department because the alleys must serve as an exit in the event of a fire.
· Many downtown businesses still are not recycling adequately. Currently, the Solid Waste Division has not strictly enforced the commercial recycling ordinance in the downtown area due to the higher priority of resolving the garbage collection problems that are unique to that small area.
· In order to keep from having to store trash and trash receptacles on the sidewalk many businesses would require nighttime and even Sunday trash collection.
· There are a number of barriers to nighttime and Sunday collection including ordinances, additional payroll costs for the hauler, and limitations caused by Transfer Station hours of operation.
· The small number of businesses experiencing these types of problems prevents economies of scale that would help keep collection costs reasonable if alternative methods were implemented.
The solutions to these problems are still not readily apparent, but the Solid Waste Division is looking into a couple of possibilities. The Division is currently working with Emerald Waste Services (EWS) to determine the feasibility of a commercial pre-paid bag system of collection for the businesses with acute storage and collection problems. If a pre-paid bag system was created, it would most likely provide early morning collection of an unlimited number of bags of garbage and recycling Monday through Saturday. A second collection in mid-afternoon might be available on a case by case basis for an additional charge.
The Alachua County Office of Waste Alternatives has also suggested the possibility of working with the City to establish a Recycling Center downtown. Such a facility would remove the need to place recycling out on the sidewalk for collection, and would reduce the number of receptacles each business needed to store, but would probably have to be staffed almost 24/7.
Fiscal Note
None
Recommendation
The Recreation, Cultural Affairs and Public Works Committee: 1) receive an update on the issue of Solid Waste Collection in the Downtown Area; and 2) remove this item from the Active Referral List.