Ramona Huckstep, Holts Summit resident of 16 years, said she was surprised to learn that the city does not require all residents to sign up for trash service.
"We want a clean neighborhood and a clean town," Huckstep said to the Board of Aldermen at its September meeting.
Currently, the city does not require residents to have and pay for trash service.
Holts Summit has used Allied Waste since the 1990s. The city reached out to the company for potential solutions to a trash and illegal dumping problem in the city. Allied drafted a new contract that would change the services it provides for the city, in an effort to address the city's problem. City Administrator Brian Crane said Monday night that he asked Allied to look at other proposals and to see what other options are out there.
At its meeting Monday, Sept. 8, the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen tabled board discussion or approval of the ordinance, which would approve the proposal, because the entire board was not present, and to allow further time for public feedback on the city's trash issues.
The board held a public hearing at its August meeting to gather residents' feedback on Allied Waste Service's proposed contract for trash services. Resident Kurt Hilsenbeck attended the August public hearing. He said he takes care of his trash and shouldn't be required to pay for a trash cart because other residents do not.
"I am my own trash service," Hilsenbeck said at the August meeting.
The board also tabled readings of the ordinance last month to give residents more time to comment on Allied Waste's proposal.
The company's original proposal would require residents to have a 95-gallon trash bin. It would add an optional recycling service and require a five-year contract renewal with Allied.
More specifically, Allied Waste Service's original proposed contract includes:
•City billing;
•Mandatory residential trash service;
•95-gallon cart for residential service;
•$3.25 per-home cost for recycling (cost is dependent on 600 participants in recycling program);
•$11.20 for residential service (city will match current billed cost);
•No fuel surcharge fee;
•3-percent annual price increase for customers;
Huckstep told the board she was in favor of the recycling option in Allied's original proposal. She said recycling bins at homes would be convenient and more environmentally friendly. Huckstep, a Girl Scout leader, encourages environmentally-conscience practices with her two daughters at home. She said her daughter's Girl Scout troop is always reusing materials for projects.
"As a Girl Scout leader, we collect junky stuff," Huckstep said. "And we make crafts with it."
At the August public hearing, Hilsenbeck described Allied's original proposal as "money for nothing." Also at the August meeting, Crane said Holts Summit has had problems with illegal trash dumping because not every residence is required to have a trash cart. City Attorney Kent Brown said the ultimate question is not should the city accept or deny Allied's proposal, but rather what the city should do about trash and litter.
Megan Favignano can be reached at (573) 826-2417 or [email protected].