Holts Summit residents weigh in on trash service

Board appoints Glenn to vacant Ward 1 seat

Ramona Huckstep, a 16-year Holts Summit resident, 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 told 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 in an effort to address the city's problem. City Administrator Brian Crane said he asked Allied to look at other proposals and to see what other options are out there.

At its meeting Monday night, the Holts Summit Board of Aldermen tabled discussion or approval of the ordinance because the entire board was not present and to allow time for public feedback on the trash issues.

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.

The board held a public hearing at its August meeting to gather' feedback on Allied Waste Service's proposed contract for trash services. Resident Kurt Hilsenbeck 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;

• Three 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. A Girl Scout leader, Huckstep encourages environmentally conscious 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."

Board appoints Glenn to vacant Ward 1 seat

The Holts Summit Board of Aldermen appointed Jason Glenn to fill the unexpired term of Jason Michael, Ward 1 alderman.

Glenn took the oath of office and for the first time, took his seat at the Monday night. He has lived in Holts Summit for a little more than three years.

After serving on the Holts Summit Board of Alderman for six years, Michael resigned from his seat at the end of the board's August meeting. Michael and his family moved to a new residence three counties away, leading him to resign.

Also at the meeting, the board awarded the bid for the FY2013 recreational trail program through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The board awarded the bid for the project to Sam Gaines Construction, Inc.

And, the board held the first reading of an ordinance involving the Holts Summit Trail Connection Project phase II in Greenway Park.

The ordinance would authorize the mayor to move forward with a contract between the city and Missouri DNR to work on the project.

City Administrator Brian Crane said the trail connection project is an estimated $130,000 project. He added that the city has received $100,000 in grant money for the project.