The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

Discussion

September 15, 2008

Council says recycling too costly for now

By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

Joplin residents may be surveyed about whether they want curbside recycling, and city officials will talk to surrounding communities about whether they would participate.

It could cost Joplin residents alone $15.25 for monthly pickup of trash and recyclable materials, the City Council was told Monday night.

Jennifer Fagan, governmental affairs manager for Joplin’s franchised waste hauler, Allied Waste Services of Galena, Kan., told the council that the company provides trash and recycling for $11.99 a month to residents at Bentonville, Ark. That price is lower than what could be offered in Joplin because Allied serves businesses in Bentonville as well as residents. In Joplin, the company is franchised to serve residents solely.

Also, the plant where the recyclables are hauled is only 20 to 30 minutes away from Bentonville at Johnson, Ark. Allied would have to haul Joplin recyclables to Johnson.

Council member Benjamin Rosenberg said he thinks the $15-a-month price would be too much for Joplin residents.

“I don’t think our community is ready for recycling yet,” he said. “I don’t think citizens are willing to pay that kind of raise.” Weekly trash hauling now costs $6.98 plus a 35-cent billing fee, and it is added to water bills. Next year, the cost will be raised to $9.05, including the billing fee, to cover the increased costs the hauler has experienced.

Fagan said in response to questions from the council that several factors could change the cost to Joplin residents. One would be if a plant to handle recyclables moved into the Joplin area. That would reduce potential transportation costs. Allied is working on a pilot project in Springfield that might make that a possibility, Fagan said.

Councilman Bill Scearce asked whether anyone had looked into building such an operation in Joplin. “We haven’t had anybody show interest,” Fagan replied.

Mayor Pro Tem Mike Woolston asked whether the price would go down if other communities participated. “We would have to see,” replied Fagan.

Mayor Gary Shaw asked Scearce to check with area governmental representatives with whom he serves on a regional government board about whether they would be interested in exploring the idea of forming a trash-collection district. The mayor also suggested that the city take a survey in its quarterly newsletter asking residents whether they want curbside recycling.

City Manager Mark Rohr also said that city staff could talk to other area communities about whether they had interest in joining with Joplin to create a curbside recycling service.

In other business, Vince Lindstrom, the director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the council that work will proceed, with council approval, on erecting the first wave of way-finding signs.

The brown signs would first be erected at 32nd and Main streets to direct travelers to the hotel district, the airport and to historic Route 66.

Other signs would be erected along Seventh and Fourth streets pointing the directions to the Range Line shopping district, Joe Becker Stadium, the Joplin Museum Complex and downtown.

Money is allocated in this year’s budget to fund approximately 15 signs with a second set of signs to be installed on other streets next year.

The council also:

n Gave final approval to fund nine grants through the visitors’ bureau to advertise community events such as Boomtown Days at a cost of approximately $140,000.

n OK’d spending $246,000 to pay for engineering plans for storm-water projects from A Street to C Street from Porter Avenue to Empire Avenue, and $135,357 to rebuild a sewer pipe over Turkey Creek that was damaged by creek flooding last spring.

n Approved condemnation proceedings for a parcel of land for the Connecticut Avenue widening project, though negotiations with the owner are to continue.

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