Garbage collection rates will now increase within the city of Picayune after the council approved a motion to increase the rates as requested by their current waste handler, Progressive Waste Solutions.
Earlier in the month, the council was addressed by a representative of Progressive Waste Solutions, who said the company was requesting the increase due to an increase imposed on them by Waste Management, the company that runs the landfill in Millard, which is the closest place to bring residential and commercial waste. The representative said the rate for all waste haulers was unexpectedly raised from $22.50 per ton to $33 a ton in September of last year.
They requested a rate increase from the city to help ease the burden of the rate increase imposed upon them.
Tuesday, the council approved a rate increase of $1.50 to all residential and commercial customers who pay for garbage collection within the city limits.
That change will bring residential rates from $19.35 to $20.85 per month and commercial customers from $21.05 to $22.55 per month. City Clerk Amber Hinton said .50 of that increase will be used to pay the increase to Progressive Waste Solutions, while the remaining $1 will go to the city for their waste collection services, including picking up green waste such as limbs and leaves. The increase will take effect on the June billing.
Public Works Director Eric Morris said there are two city owned trucks that pick up green waste, Progressive operates one of those trucks one day a week.
If a resident has green waste to be collected, they are advised to call City Hall to let city employees know it is at the curb. Otherwise they won’t know it needs to be picked up. However, if the crew is out on a call and they notice another pile on the same street, they have been advised to pick those piles up as well, Morris said.
The council also approved receipt of the financial forecast for fiscal year 2017. Hinton said she predicts an average increase of $70,000 in sales tax collections per month. She based that figure off of sales taxes collected so far this year.
It will equate to a total sales tax collection of about $404,000 per month.
In other action, the council approved a motion to ratify “the city manager’s decision to declare the destruction of Angler Drive as an emergency situation and authorized purchases under code section 31.7.13(k).”
After the meeting was over, a concerned citizen asked why the city did not advertise for bids to conduct the work to repair the washout along that road. City Attorney Nathan Farmer said it was because the incident was declared an emergency situation, negating the need to go out for bids.
Morris said he estimated the road to be reopened for traffic by today.
The next council meeting will be June 7, at 5 p.m. in City Hall.