The Edmond Sun

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November 28, 2008

City hikes solid waste prices

James Coburn

EDMOND — Increases for disposable solid waste landfill costs during the past year will result in rate increases for residents and commercial properties.

The Edmond City Council this week approved a 19 percent increase for basic residential service from $8 to $9.50. Also, a 10 percent increase was approved for commercial service and a 16 percent increase for recycling services from $2 to $2.32. Household hazardous waste is included in the charge of $0.38 for houses and apartments.

The city also will end its twice yearly hazardous waste pickup program in favor of curbside pickup.

There has not been a residential rate increase by the City of Edmond for solid waste utility since 2000, nor a commercial increase since 2002, said Jerry Smith, assistant city manager for operations. The growth of the city had generated enough sales tax revenue until 2007 to keep up with the cost increases for both of those operations, Smith said.

The 2009 solid waste utility budget of more than $7 million was set by the City Council in June as part of its five-year plan. But the revenue for this budget is projected at more than $6 million. A balance of about $800,000 must be settled to make up the difference, Smith said. Nearly a $3 million deficit would accumulate by 2013.

“To correct that, we’ve all gone through the details of our different services we provide,” Smith said.

Across-the-board rate changes are impacted by the combined commercial, residential, recycling, roll-off and administration items in the budget.

On Jan. 1, the basic rate for a single family, covering one large roll-out cart, one recycling bin, state landfill fee assessment and household hazardous waste collection, will increase from $10.25 per month to $12.45 per month. Rates will vary according to the size and number of carts needed as well as where on the property the waste will be picked up.

A Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day program began in 2006. The community had been asked during these three events to bring their electronic waste and chemical waste products to a designated collection site. These items were taken by the city to a recycle drop-off point in Oklahoma City.

“The cost of those has been around $60,000-$70,000 (each) if you throw in all the overtime labor and delivery we pay the guys to work the event, plus the contractor’s cost they hire out,” Smith said.

The council approved a newly revamped system for household hazardous waste collection. Residents will now be able to call a 1-800 number to arrange for a contractor to remove the disposable waste from their property.

The items that may be disposed of include cleaning supplies, painting supplies, indoor home supplies, garden supplies, automotive fluids, home and car batteries, hobby supplies, fluorescent lamps, tires, televisions, computer supplies, VCR and DVD players, microwaves, typewriters, camcorders and cameras.

“The cost of doing the twice a year event is about the same as this household service. It’s 38 cents. That represents about $125,000 a year,” Smith said.

The Edmond Fire Department has urged the curbside pick up change for Edmond as a safety precaution for residents needing to haul hazardous waste to collection sites, said Wayne Page, city councilman.

“I think (loading) hazardous waste in a convenient fashion for people to dispose of is going to keep a lot of it out of the landfill that shouldn’t be there and actually make it easier for the residents,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Waner said.

City Manager Larry Stevens pointed out that Edmond would be the only city in the metropolitan area to offer curbside household hazardous waste collection.

TO LEARN MORE about changes in the City of Edmond solid waste rates, visit http://edmondok.com/living/eltv/meetings/recentcouncil. Go to item 4-A-4.

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