Council approves downtown recycling

Washington?s downtown residents will soon have access to a recycling receptacle after the city council approved the idea Wednesday night. The receptacle will be in the alley south of the Washington Free Public Library.

The council heard from Main Street volunteer Suzanne Ackermann, who recently completed a survey of the downtown residents about their interest in recycling. The survey asked the residents how often they would recycle and how far they would travel to a recycling receptacle. Ackermann prepared a report for the council in which she wrote that 50 percent of the respondents to the survey would be willing to attend a meeting on recycling.

Ackermann wrote in the report that there was some concern about a roving container that would move from one block to the next. She said very few people would like a roving pick-up that would only be near their apartment for a limited time.

Councilor Bob Shellmyer asked if the council had already agreed to purchase a recycling trailer for the downtown. City Administrator Brent Hinson said the city did not agree to buy a trailer, but it did budget for one.

Downtown building owners currently pay for recycling on their city utility bills, even though they do not receive curb-side pick-up. Ackermann said the only option for a downtown resident who wants to recycle is to drive to the recycling center on Lexington Boulevard.

Councilor Bob Shepherd said that having a recycling receptacle in the downtown may reduce littering, too. He said a recycling receptacle would also benefit the city because it would mean fewer items in the landfill.

The council agreed to have a recycling receptacle south of the library and to explore the possibility of additional receptacle sites later. The recycling receptacle will be just for downtown residents and not for downtown business owners.

Hinson gave a presentation to the council on tax increment financing (TIF) and tax abatement. He explained how the two differ, namely that tax abatement is simpler because it just involves reducing taxes on a property. TIF involves an agreement whereby the city promises to reduce taxes on a property that has increased in value. Hinson said the logic behind TIF is that it provides developers an incentive to build without raising taxes on anyone else. The developer benefits from lower taxes on the improved portion of his property while the city also benefits from a larger tax base, which would not have expanded without the development.

Hinson said Washington has used TIF in a rather unusual way in the past. He said the city has created TIF districts that include a single building, such as the Bryson Block Building, which he said was inefficient. The city has seven TIF districts in town which are isolated from one another. He showed the council a map of the Urban Renewal Area in his former home of Garner, which was one contiguous area.

Hinson recommended that the council consolidate its commercial TIF districts. He said the city is already in the process of merging all its active residential TIF districts in the south central part of town.

Hinson listed a few areas where the city could use TIF in the future, such as to develop an industrial park in the southwest part of town, to develop the former site of the Tienda La Cruz building on South Marion and to improve streets or other infrastructure.