The city is asking residents to take part in a town hall meeting Thursday about significant changes to waste collection service and “The Claw,” which is no stranger during the autumn months, when the trees lining the streets drop bushels of leaves. The meeting is primarily for Midtown and downtown residents, Integrated Waste General Manager Steve Harriman said Wednesday, and the conversation will center on the challenges those neighborhoods face with solid waste pickup. “The central city has... mcorker pcax comment-68938 2012-06-04T21:07:20Z 2012-06-04T21:07:20Z The city has added the College/Glen Neighborhood Association to the meeting schedule--June 14, 7:30 PM, 8424 Olivet Ct. pcax 2012-06-04T21:07:20Z LearyVoter comment-68893 2012-06-03T14:29:38Z 2012-06-03T14:29:38Z I am noticing that the City did not include the College Glenn Neighborhood Association http://www.collegeglen.org/ in their meeting line-up. These residents also enjoy the city's loose leaf street pickup services and are interested in changes to their city services. Is there a plan to organize a session with the College Glenn Neighborhood Association as well? Personally, I am an advocate for the loose leaf curbside services to continue to be provided as many homes within the city boundary (1) have more green waste than most with large, mature trees/shrubs, (2) don't have room in their side/back yards for multiple cans with their small city plots, and (3) are elderly and don't have the physical ability to pull these heavy cans back and forth to the curb or lift their yard debris into the container yet they enjoy doing their own yard work. I find the cans to be unsightly and have no interest in making the necessary modifications to store a row of them on my small city property. Furthermore, I am concerned that minimizing our current paid city services with promises to allow periodic loose curb pickups may result in a withdrawal of these curb pickups later to save further city expenses yet our fees will be based on the promised services. City government has grown and has made costly efforts toward growth during a recession period that some could argue have been wasteful and counter to the general publics opinion. For the reasons stated above, repealing Measure A, the 1977 voter-approved initiative that prevents the city from requiring residents to use containers, does not appear to be the answer. I have not heard the city make an argument that the 'claw' street pickup program is not paying for itself but I have heard that the city is interested in doubling or tripling the fees residents currently pay for this service. I would like the city to be prepared during the neighborhood meetings to provide an actual cost accounting of the existing program as well as their projections. Residents have a right to know how their money is being spent and how our city government may be profiting from it. I suspect that the city, with their existing budget reductions, benefits from the fees paid for the services provided and is searching for methods to increase their coffers by reducing our services and, in doing so, their costs. I for one am no longer interested in continuing to accept a model where public decisions are based on limited information and trusting compliance rather than supporting data and informed voters. LearyVoter 2012-06-03T14:29:38Z Richard Hanson comment-68889 2012-06-02T21:01:22Z 2012-06-02T21:01:22Z Sounds like they want to provide more or less same service as does the county. The only difference in your rates there is the number and size of your waste containers. Customers who currently rely on the "Claw" are going to have to pay their gardener more to take away the refuse. And those who do it themselves will have to hire a private service. Could this be the first (though unintended) step to privatization? Richard Hanson 2012-06-02T21:01:22Z Mark comment-68745 2012-05-31T19:35:52Z 2012-05-31T19:35:52Z I’m OK with the biweekly recycling schedule, but trying to create a system where “every customer has the same service” is asking for trouble when the needs of your customers are not all the same. In most of the city the home owner will now be getting a new container for their yard waste but in the central city neighborhoods where a good part of the plant waste comes from street trees, apartments and office buildings who is going to see to it that these new containers get set out for pick-up? The once of week ‘gardeners’ [glorified mowers, trimmers, and blowers] are not going to be around to do it. Will they just leave it in the street to pile up? It might not be a big issue but we should think about this. Maybe we could have both plant waste containers AND a monthly (weekly during the Fall) street ‘claw’ pick up? Mark 2012-05-31T19:35:52Z Rhonda Erwin comment-68738 2012-05-31T17:25:05Z 2012-05-31T17:25:05Z "City talks trash at town hall meeting" lol - I love the title- that is so cute! Thank you also for the information provided within the article Rhonda Erwin 2012-05-31T17:25:05Z