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Politics & Government

City Council to Vote on Mandatory Garbage Service, Rate Increases Tonight

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Ted Adcock Community Center at Shoreline Station.

More trash talk is scheduled to take place at tonight's city council meeting when councilmembers are scheduled to vote on an annual rate increase of 3% a year for the next five years, along with an ordinance requiring all residents and businesses to subscribe to garbage collection services.

The mandatory collection ordinance and rate increase proposal appear to be the last two major items the city needs to formally approve in preparation to roll out a significantly new type of garbage and recycling collection services starting on July 1.

On Dec. 21, the council voted to renew its contract with Allied Waste for five more years from July 2011 - July 2016. The new contract will swap out customer-provided trash cans with rolling carts supplied by Allied Waste, as well as introduce single-stream recycling. Single-stream recycling eliminates the separate plastic tubs currently used to sort recyclables and requires that all recyclables be placed in a single rolling cart instead (see photo).

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At the same meeting on Dec. 21, councilmembers elevated their proposal for mandatory solid waste collection as an ordinance to be voted on tonight. While a public hearing was held that evening for residents to weigh in on the proposals, only two residents publicly voiced their opposition to the council. Resident Jim Pierce said that it was an "unfunded mandate" that those on fixed incomes could not afford.

As the rate increases are contingent upon mandatory collection, the council will vote on the mandatory collection ordinance first before weighing in on rate increases.

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City officials have promoted mandatory collection since they first raised the idea early last month. They say that the new practice would not only cut down on what they say is the practice of nonsubscribers placing their trash in the bins of their neighbors as well as in public trash receptacles, but would also secure lower and predictable increases over the next five years at 3% a year. According to the city, a 3% annual increase on a 32-gallon can would raise rates from $20.62 in July 2011 to $23.22 in July 2015.

Reducing blight and increasing public sanitation are also cited by the city as reasons to adopt mandatory collection.

City officials say that a mandatory collection policy would help Half Moon Bay comply with the state-mandated requirement established under AB 939, the California Integrated Waste Management Act. AB 939 requires local municipalities and regional waste management agencies to recycle 50% of eligible materials generated by residents and businesses. The city has said that being out of compliance puts them at risk to be fined by the state.

Mandatory collection is expected to bring in greater revenue for city coffers. Because the city contracts exclusively with Allied Waste as its solid waste disposal company, Allied Waste pays the city an annual fee based upon the level of service.

If the mandatory collection ordinance passes, the city has disclosed it can expect a $398,643 fee paid to them by Allied Waste for the 2011-2012 fiscal year due to the increased number of subscribers. The new figure represents an increase of $162,202 from the fee the city says Allied Waste would pay if mandatory collection was not implemented.

On Dec. 2, according to the city, over 4,000 city residents and business owners who do not currently subscribe to garbage collection services were mailed information about the mandatory collection proposal, the time and date of tonight's vote, and details about the rate increases. The mailing also notified the individuals their right to file a "valid protest" against the rate increases, according to the city.

Laura Snideman, City Manager, reported that nine such protests were filed against the rate increases as of Jan. 12. While residents and businesses will be able to comment on the proposed increases at tonight's meeting, Snideman has advised the council that California Proposition 218 gives the city the legal right to approve these rate increases if less than 50% + 1 of those notified do not file a written protest by the time of tonight's scheduled vote.

Given that the 50%+1 requirement would require approximately 2,000 potential separate waste collection subscribers to file written protests by the time of the council vote, the council is expected to vote on the rate increase this evening.

Half Moon Bay is the only city in San Mateo County that does not mandate solid waste collection. According to Carl Mennie, spokesperson for Allied Waste San Mateo County, approximately 79% of Half Moon Bay residents "that we're aware of" participate in solid waste collection services.

For the full text of the proposed mandatory collection ordinance as well as information about the increase in rates contingent upon mandatory collection, view the PDF documents posted in the media box to the right.

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