CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday the Clearlake City Council gave approval to the second and final reading of an ordinance to institute universal garbage collection in the city.
In June, the council had approved the first reading of the ordinance, which came out of an ad hoc committee that included Mayor Russ Perdock and Councilman Phil Harris.
Costs for the service given at the meeting are $4 a week for 20 gallon bins, $5 per week for 32 gallon bins and for the 64 gallon bins, $7 a week.
City Manager Greg Folsom said the ordinance will require all homes to have the service, with exceptions for vacation residences that are not used as rentals, and residences where no solid waste is generated, there are no water or power connections, or where no food is prepared or consumed.
Commercial properties must provide the city with disposal receipts on a quarterly basis to prove that their waste is being properly handled, he explained.
Once the ordinance is approved, the city’s franchise hauler, Clearlake Waste Solutions, will begin a multi-stage notification process, Folsom said.
It’s believed that 2,000 new customers will be added to the company’s existing 3,800 customers. As a result, Folsom said the company will need to buy additional equipment to ramp up, so the target date for starting the new service will be April 1, 2018.
During public comment, several community members – many of them from the group Citizens Caring for Clearlake, a group that works on illegal dump sites – encouraged the council to pass the ordinance.
City resident Susanne Scholz also asked the council to approve the new rules, noting that Citizens Caring for Clearlake only have so much manpower, and that the cost for residents is not large.
Elliot Naess recounted cleaning up garbage dumped on the sidewalk on Olympic Drive earlier that day. As he was leaving the site, he encountered a garbage can rolling around in traffic that had come out of the back of a vehicle of a person hauling their own garbage.
Previously he said he’d applauded those who have hauled their own garbage. However, as a result of that situation, he said he needed to qualify that.
“Hauling garbage is not appropriate as an amateur sport,” he said.
Chuck Leonard, a former city councilman who also volunteered with city code enforcement for six years, said he often had visited properties where people were self-haulers. He said they had trucks and utility trailers filled with garbage.
He said he was glad to see the ordinance coming forward, adding it was only going to be a benefit to the city.
Vice Mayor Bruno Sabatier said he’s gotten a lot of complaints about the universal garage ordinance, and was sorry that those people weren’t at the council meeting to voice their opinions.
He suggested that people needed to manage garbage better, recycle more and purchase products differently, and in doing so they could actually save money.
“I think this is a good way to change behavior and clean up our city,” he said.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton said all of the people she’s spoken to about it – with the exception of one person – are against it, adding that it’s a lot of money for seniors on tight budgets.
She suggested seniors could lose their homes if they can’t afford to pay for the garbage service and it’s attached to their property tax.
Overton said she didn’t think universal garbage service will stop dumping, adding that some people will always be irresponsible.
“It will take some of it away but it won’t be the miracle cure,” she said.
Councilman Nick Bennett said people who have talked with him about it are about half for it, half against it.
“Let’s make adjustments in our lifestyle,’ he said, adding that it’s in Clearlake’s strategic plan to be a visibly cleaner city.
Citing the costs for the service, Perdock suggested people couldn’t find someone who would haul their garbage and pay the dump fees for that amount of money.
He said he’s visited other cities with universal garbage collection in effect. “I don’t see the garbage around town in those cities like I do here,” Perdock said, adding he believed it will address the illegal dumping issue.
Sabatier moved to approve the ordinance’s second reading, with Harris seconding. The council’s vote was 4-1, with Overton voting no.
Also on Thursday, the council gave consensus to exploring a partnership with Adventist Health Clear Lake to make upgrades to the community and senior center, which possibly could include a pool, fitness facilities and other amenities.
The council also reached consensus to direct staff to pursue some projects at the center, including installing a new sprinkler system and a memorial rose garden. The city has $9,500 left over from other work at the center, with funds specifically for the garden.
In other business, the council approved canceling its Sept. 14 meeting due to Folsom and two council members planning to be at the League of California Cities conference, and confirmed assessments for code enforcement abatements on properties.
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