LEWISTON — Councilors won’t wait for new members to be seated to start an educational and promotional program designed to make sense of a pay-as-you-throw curbside trash collection system.
A majority of councilors Tuesday agreed not to wait, despite cold feet for some.
“Over the summer, all of us have heard from residents that there is a lot of concern about what that will look like,” said Councilor Nate Libby, who voted to pursue the program in June. “And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. And I have not heard much at all in the way of positive feedback on pay-as-you-throw.”
At Tuesday’s workshop, City Administrator Ed Barrett said he is ready to present the $30,000 spending plan for the educational program to the city’s Finance Committee.
The plan calls for hiring trash collection company WasteZero to create an educational program, which includes scheduling several public meetings and creating a promotional website to explain paid trash collection.
“But I have gotten some feedback from some members of the council that had some concern about starting the program in advance of November’s election,” Barrett said. “We know there will be at least some change in the council.”
At least three of the seven councilors are not running for another term — Libby, Ward 2’s Don D’Auteuil and Ward 6’s Mark Cayer. Of the other four, only Ward 4’s Shane Bouchard does not have a challenger.
Councilor Bouchard said he stood by the previous vote.
“I may not fully agree with pay-as-you-throw as it sits right now,” he said. “We made a decision.”
Councilor D’Auteuil said the educational program is important now.
“I think the biggest part of this is the education piece, and going forward with the education is not saying we are implementing,” he said. “It’s making sure everybody understands what the program actually is.”
The pay-as-you-throw plan calls for residents to buy special trash bags at local stores. City crews would only collect curbside trash left in those bags.
City recycling would continue to be free, and the paid-bag program would let the city stop paying for curbside trash collection costs with property taxes, roughly a $1.2 million savings.
That savings could be used to pay down the city’s tax rate, reducing it by about 66 cents for an entire year of the program, or about 44 cents if the program starts mid-year. That would be a savings of between and $66 to $99 in property taxes on a $150,000 home.
The bags would likely sell for about $2 for a 30-gallon bag and about $1.25 for a 15-gallon bag. All residents would be able to leave their trash out in the special bags.
Councilors approved the yearlong educational program about the paid trash-collection program last month. Councilors agreed to pay WasteZero $30,000 to explain to residents how the program would work. If the city adopts the program, WasteZero will help launch the program and then stay on to help provide customer service and will forgive the $30,000.
But deciding to go forward would be up to the next council.
“It will be up to them whether we adopt it or not,” D’Auteuil said. “But for now, we need to keep up the education so people can make an informed decision.”
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