HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. - The city of Holts Summit first started talking about ways to slow the litter and illegal dumping in town last October. Tuesday night, the Board of Aldermen again tabled a final decision on Allied Waste Service's proposal regarding trash pickup in the city.
Holts Summit has used Allied Waste since the 1990s, but has not required residents have trash service. The city reached out to Allied for potential solutions to its trash problem.
Resident Tom Halfen said he would like to have more choice in his trash service. If he wants to go to a neighbor and share a trash can and split the cost of trash service, he wants to have the ability to do so. Instead of mandating trash service, he said the city should enforce existing codes to take care of the city's trash problem.
"If we just enforce the ordinances we have, that might work better," Halfen said Tuesday night. "Just put this idea off for a year."
City Administrator Brian Crane said the city does enforce its current codes, but doing so hasn't been enough when it comes to the city's litter and illegal dumping problem. "We currently do that," Cranes said. "That's currently our process and it's not working. I tell you, it's not working."
The bill on the board's table currently requires residential trash service, 95-gallon carts for residential service, an optional recycling program, a three percent annual increase for customers and a five year term with Allied.
Crane pointed out multiple other cities who have mandatory trash service and city billing, including St. Martins, Linn, Vienna, New Bloomfield and Tipton.
About 1,200 residents in Holts Summit have trash service while between 300 and 400 do not. The proposal before the board would decrease the cost of trash service, for residents who currently have it, by three percent. The Board of Aldermen is hoping that requiring trash service will help decrease the city's litter and illegal dumping problem. Crane said the city spends a great deal of time issuing tickets for illegal dumping and cleaning up the mess.
"I really can't understand what 400 people inside the city of Holts Summit do with their trash," Crane said. "We hope that if someone is mandated to have trash service, they'll use it," Crane said.
Roger Alberts, Holts Summit resident of 50 years, said he would like to see more people at the meeting, commenting on the city's trash issue and Allied's proposal. The city has kept Allied's proposal on the table since this summer for that reason - to solicit more resident feedback.
Alberts uses Allied and described them as a good company. But he told he doesn't think the city should mandate everyone to have trash service from Allied. "We are asking people to take something on here and have one company do it all," he said.
He said residents should not be forced to do business with just one company and should be given the option to choose who handles their trash service.
Alberts suggested the city make the penalty for littering and illegal dumping more severe.
"We've got to quit slapping people on the wrist and saying don't do that," Alberts told the board Tuesday night.
Halfen suggested the city change the proposal to allow a three-year contract instead of a five-year one. He also suggested that the city use the consumer price index (CPI) to determine rate increases instead of agreeing to an automatic 3 percent annual price increase for customers.
Alberts also worries that mandatory service would add a financial burden to some who can't afford it. City Attorney Kent Brown said the city can always choose to require trash service and also create avenues to help those who can not financially afford to pay for trash service.