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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Fairfield residents to receive trash carts
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield residents will be receiving a trash cart in the next few months, and they have a choice about which size to get.
The Fairfield City Council entered into a five-year contract with Waste Management, and part of the contract calls for every property with a water meter to receive a trash cart provided by Waste Management. Fairfield residents should have received a letter dated March 1 informing them of this change.
Residents will get to choose between a 96-gallon cart, the same size as the recycling carts residents already have, or a smaller 65-gallon cart. The 96-gallon option will be the default, so residents who do nothing will automatically receive the 96-gallon cart in June before the contract begins on July 1. Those who want the 65-gallon option must fill out a form, which the city mailed out, and return it to city hall by April 1.
There is no fee associated with either option. However, after the contract begins, residents who wish to change their trash cart will be charged a “swap” fee.
Fairfield Sustainability Coordinator Faith Reeves told The Union Wednesday that she is working with officials from Maharishi International University on a plan to recycle old trash bins that residents no longer need, as well as educating them on other uses for their old trash bins. However, she said nothing concrete had been agreed upon as of Wednesday.
Fairfield City Administrator Doug Reinert said Fairfield residents will see that their trash and recycling will become a single line item on their utility bill, which will be $22.27 per month for the first year of the contract and increasing a little each subsequent year: $22.93 in year two, $23.62 in year three, $24.33 in year four, and $25.00 in year five.
Another fee that could be imposed is a “contamination fee” on residents who place items in the recycling that cannot be recycled. Waste Management has cameras on its trucks that allow it to detect which homes are responsible for the contamination.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
