Carbon County Commission Tackles Garbage Collection Issues

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On Wednesday night, the Carbon County Commission listened to two citizens about garbage collection in the area. In February, ECDC approached the county asking for an increase in tippage fees. It was granted at a four percent raise per ton on what is taken to be disposed at the facility.

That increase affects the companies that collect garbage in the county and take it to ECDC. City Sanitation was on the agenda on Wednesday to ask the county for permission to also raise its collection rate four percent per can, which is approximately nine cents. This was granted.

Deena Polster came forward and said she did not understand what a tippage fee was and why City Sanitation was asking for a four percent raise right after ECDC had one approved.

Commissioner John Jones explained that the tippage fee term was an official definition of the fee charged by a facility to dump there. Also, that the rate increase for ECDC was the first in ten years and reflected the cost of processing material. The fee increase asked for by CIty Sanitation was passing the increased cost of dumping garbage at ECDC to the individual customers that generate the garbage collected. There were not two increases, only one, but each company needed to gain approval to raise its prices.

A second customer came forth and said he lived alone and with careful conservation and recycling, only fills his bin up about seven times a year. He still has to pay the full price of weekly garbage pick-up. He was looking to see if there could be any reduction in costs for those who do not need the mandated weekly garbage collection.

Commissioner Jae Potter said that at this time, that would create a nightmare in billing and monitoring, but it was an idea to look into since there might be more individuals in the community who do not need weekly garbage collection. Jones added that the mandatory garbage collection has significantly reduced the illegal dumping in the ravines and desert areas that used to frequently occur.

A request for an extension for an area resident to pay her property taxes was approved due to extenuating circumstance at the meeting. Commissioner Casey Hopes added for the record to remind anyone finding themselves struggling to pay their property taxes should come in before they are overdue and see what channels of relief are available. County Treasurer Marilyn Graham stated that the county is trying to reach out and work with residents as much as they can to avoid having to sell homes for delinquent taxes.

Bids were opened for awarding a contract for repair and mitigation efforts on the Seeley Fire damage areas. T & T construction came in with a low bid of $682, 835. Five bids were received for the project. The bid will be awarded after review by Jones & DeMIlle Engineering to make sure it meets all qualifications specified in the RFP.

Marty Wilson was honored as the employee of the month by Jason Llewelyn and Don Marelli for her work with emergency service, the EMT trainings and EMS symposium.

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