Wednesday, September 29, 2010
 
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Small fees for landscape waste dumping?

Question will be asked of landfill users

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[September 29, 2010]  The city of Lincoln operates a landfill, located just south of New Union Cemetery on Broadwell Street. It is open and free of charge to Lincoln residents for the disposal of yard and lawn waste. It is also the location the city uses for disposal of downed tree limbs and landscape debris after severe storms.

In addition, contractors who do tree trimming and other yardwork use the landfill to dispose of their waste. In the case of contractors, they are charged a fee per load to dispose of their materials.

Recently, however, a complaint was issued to the Lincoln City Council that not all contractors are paying the fees. The problem lies in the city workers' inability to know who is a contractor and who is a private citizen of the city.

Tuesday evening the city's Sidewalks, Forestry and Lighting Committee met for the second time in a month in an effort to come up with an equitable solution to the problem.

Alderman David Armbrust chairs the committee and opened by saying that he has no problem with the idea of establishing a charge for the use of the landfill. He noted that statistically only 20 percent of the city's residents actually use the landfill, yet it is being maintained by taxpayer dollars.

"I don't feel bad asking folks to pay a fee for this. I was brought up that you pay for what you get," Armbrust said. He recapped the discussions of the last meeting, saying there had been discussions about charging an annual fee, establishing a punch card system of perhaps 12 punches for $10. He also noted that perhaps the landfill could also offer free days on occasion for those who cannot afford to pay a fee.

Alderwoman Joni Tibbs said she felt very strongly that taxpayers in the city should not be asked to pay a fee. On the other hand, she does support charging a fee to contractors.

Alderman David Wilmert said he agreed with Tibbs.

"I can't see putting together a fee structure for everybody when just a few people are abusing the system," he said.

Wilmert noted that we don't charge for fire and police services, and yet every service in the city is abused from time to time. Armbrust answered that comment by saying that the city was required to provide police and fire services as safe streets; however, he doesn't know of anything that says the city has to provide a landscape waste landfill.

Alderman Marty Neitzel also commented that if the city starts charging, some people may stop using the landfill, and the result could be big messes inside the city with waste and debris not being cleaned up at all.

Tibbs also wanted to know if there was another reason for discussing this: Was this possibly an avenue for more city revenues?

Armbrust said that it all came from the complaint, but that yes, if there was a fee charged, perhaps the landfill could be maintained better. It was noted that the city pays approximately $6,000 once a year for a professional chipping machine to come in and grind the woody products.

Mayor Keith Snyder noted that currently the landfill receives about 400 loads per week of landscape waste. At $1 per load, $400 per week, $20,000 per year, the city could possibly afford to have the grinder come in up to three times a year.

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Snyder said he has talked to people who said they would gladly donate to a fund that would help keep the landfill maintained.

Wilmert wondered if there had been any research into alternative funding: something such as seeking donations or looking for any kind of funding that would not be laid on taxpayers. He felt like it was wrong to ask the taxpayers to pay for its use.

Neitzel asked if he would also eliminate the fee to the contractors, and Wilmert said no.

She then said that he wasn't quite seeing what the problem is. The problem lies in that the city doesn't know who the contractors are, and they can't figure it out.

Wilmert said he had his doubts about that as well. He said among other things they should be noting who uses the landfill and how often. If someone is showing up multiple times a week, someone needs to ask them why.

During the course of the meeting it was noted by Alderman Buzz Busby that at a recent Municipal League meeting in Chicago, he had learned that the state is looking to cut funding to municipalities. If they succeed, the city might be hard-pressed to keep the landfill open without a fee.

The council went on to talk about doing a survey of those who use the landfill, asking if they would be willing to pay a fee for the service.

It was decided that a very brief survey will be put together and distributed by the landfill attendants when loads come in.

Armbrust said he wants to stay on this and come up with an answer as quickly as possible.

He said that if a fee structure is imposed, he would like to have it start the first of the year. However, he also said that he wants plenty of time to advertise it, put up notices at the landfill and generally make the public aware well ahead of time.

Snyder asked Wilmert to get the survey put together and to the city landfill as soon as possible.

[By NILA SMITH]

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