Fairfield council opts for public hearing on trash carts

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield City Council plans to hold a public hearing in January to get feedback from residents on the size of trash cart they’d like to have.

The issue came up during the Monday, Dec. 16 council meeting, when the council was considering signing a five-year or seven-year contract with its current trash and recycling provider, Waste Management. In an effort to streamline its operations, Waste Management will supply Fairfield residents with a wheeled trash cart that its garbage truck can pick up with a mechanical arm, just like it does now for residents’ recycling carts.

Monday’s debate revolved around how big the trash cart should be. Waste Management representative Ammon Taylor said Fairfield can choose between a 96-gallon cart and a 65-gallon cart. However, he said the city must choose between the two because the garbage truck’s mechanical arm must be calibrated to pick up one size or the other, so Waste Management does not want a mix of two cart sizes throughout town.

Patricia Draznin, speaking on behalf of the Silverlakes Homeowners Association, and Sally Omansky, speaking on behalf of North Campus Village, raised objections to the city adopting the 96-gallon cart. They said it would be too large and unwieldy for the town’s elderly population, and wouldn’t fit easily in or around a garage or inside a pre-existing trash bin holder.

Later in the meeting, Taylor said Waste Management was open to making special accommodations for homeowners associations by giving the people in that association a cart size different from the rest of town, as long as it was a single standard size for everyone in that association.

Instead of approving a contract with Waste Management, the council decided to hold a public hearing on the trash carts sometime in January, with a date to be announced.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com