TO: Mayor Collins and Town Council Members
FROM: Kevin Burke, Town Manager
DATE: October 27, 2016
DEPARTMENT: Town Manager
Staff Contact Kevin Burke, 480-348-3690
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AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Review of Proposed Amendments to Town Code on Sanitation.
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Council Goals or Other Policies / Statutory Requirements:
Quality of Life - Maintain and Improve the Paradise Valley quality of life.
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive a briefing from the Town Manager regarding staff’s meeting with trash haulers and the proposed alternatives to the amended ordinance.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
At the September 8, 2016 Town Council meeting, staff presented two tiers of ideas to improve the quality of life in Paradise Valley with regard to trash collection. The first tier consisted of a set of legislative amendments to the Town’s sanitation code. The second tier consisted of a drafted request for proposal (RFP) for a single hauler. Council directed staff to discuss the proposed ordinance amendments with the existing trash haulers and bring back any concerns and/or alternatives.
Staff met with the haulers on September 16. Chief among the concerns of the small haulers was the age of the vehicles required by the amended ordinance. They felt the 2010 standard was too onerous and could drive them out of business. Staff conveyed the desire to improve air quality by having cleaner diesel engines and the engine standards started to improve in 2007 and more significantly in 2010. These haulers noted a 2007 standard would be acceptable with a different phase-in schedule for cleaner engines going forward.
A second concern was the amendment that limited pick-up to Tuesdays and Fridays each week. The haulers offered the idea of splitting the Town in half and limiting collection to Tuesday and Friday in one half of Town and Mondays and Thursdays in the other half of Town. This would achieve the same goal of reducing the days trash trucks are in a neighborhood and the days that trash bins are on the street from five days a week to two days.
Third, all of the haulers expressed concern with a January 1 effective date as all educational material about the change would therefore be distributed in December. Haulers felt that customers would not be paying attention during the holidays and suggested a February 1 or March 1 effective date.
Lastly, all the haulers suggested the greatest quality of life improvements are gained by collecting trash once a week rather than twice a week-whether it’s one hauler or five haulers.
The aforementioned alternatives, minus once a week collection, are listed in the attached amended ordinance. Staff will review them during the Study Session and then present them again during the Regular Meeting so that citizen input or hauler input can be directly received and Council may take action.
There were additional information requests made by Council during the previous study session. One was an inquiry to the haulers about the effect of the amendments on prices. While they did not provide specific responses, it was generally conceded that prices would go down for those who selected once a week services and prices would not go up for the other changes with the possible exception of age of vehicle. A requirement for more recent vehicles could translate into greater expense and higher prices for some of the haulers.
Additionally, there was a request for information regarding the financial impact of multiple haulers on Town Streets. The attached memo was prepared by former Public Works Director Jim Shano to provide some general information on impacts. Unfortunately, staff was unable to translate this information into a specific financial calculation due to variations in vehicle traffic, pavement type, number of axles and weight of trucks that was not readily available.
BUDGETARY IMPACT:
These amendments do not translate into any budgetary impact for the Town.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Sanitation Ordinance Amendment