A proposed switch to automated refuse and recycling collection has received some preliminary backing from City Council, including a nearly $5 monthly sanitation fee increase next spring. Under the plan, there would be more annual rate adjustments to follow over 14 years, with the initial increase to around $16 a month coming in April. Another $5 and change would be added in smaller annual increments after that, eventually taking the current rate of $11.50 up to $21.55 per month.
The additional funding would provide the wherewithal for a $4.3 million loan through the Ohio Water Development Authority to buy the needed equipment. This includes more than 29,000 carts — one each for trash and recyclables to the city’s 14,531 customers — and nine new trucks, five trailers and a city transfer station upgrade. “Our equipment is in such a condition of disrepair that even if the city chose not to automate, there is no way we could continue our operations” with the state of the current fleet, City Public Works Director Collette Clinkscale told council at its Oct. 26 Committee-of-the-Whole meeting.