Columbia could cut the amount of trash being dumped in the landfill by 6,000 tons per year and increase the amount of recycling by 2,000 tons per year if the City Council approves a host of changes to the rules for curbside disposal and collection that will be introduced at the council’s Tuesday night meeting. Those are the estimates offered in a staff memo on the ordinance, which would be up for a final vote at the council’s Sept. 21 meeting.
Utilities Director Dave Sorrell is proposing several changes to ordinances regarding trash and recycling collection in an attempt to improve working conditions for the solid waste staff. He’s also proposing a $5-per-hour wage increase that would bring most trash collectors’ wages to $22 per hour. The memo to the council says that would cost $354,224 per year.
Sorrell is suggesting the city pay for those raises by raising monthly household trash and recycling bills by 85 cents, which would bring the total monthly bill to $17.37. The ordinance aims to make collection more manageable by strictly regulating how residents can put out trash for curbside collection. Sorrell first discussed the ideas with the council at a February work session.
The solid waste staff has long advocated for better working conditions and stricter rules. The utility has dealt with increasing vacancies and staffing issues due to poor working conditions and high injury rates. The city has contracts with temporary agencies to fill vacancies, but it is costly. The city spent $504,000 on temporary agencies in fiscal 2019 and is on track to spend about $600,000 this year.