Mt. Pleasant City Council approves new trash system

MT. PLEASANT — After months of planning, many meetings, and much input from the community, Mt. Pleasant City Council voted to approve the new trash pickup system with a few changes at their last meeting.

The evening of Wednesday, Jan. 25, Mt. Pleasant City Council met yet another room filled with residents as they performed the third reading and adopting of an ordinance amending chapter 21 “Solid Waste” and chapter 35 “Solid Waste Charges.”

Following more back and forth discussion with residents, the council ultimately approved a resolution amending the Curbside Residential Solid Waste Collection Agreement between the city, Wegima Waste, Inc., and Lance Refuse Inc.

“The sticker system will go away and be replaced,” Mayor Steve Brimhall told a resident during the meeting. “You will get credited on your bill for the stickers that you have returned to us.”

While the sticker system will officially become a thing of the past, the new system still is slightly different from the initial information letter to residents outlined.

Originally this contract with private haulers would only offer residents two options for their solid waste collection: a 95-gallon trash bin for $19.75 or a 65-gallon trash bin for $16.75, both charged monthly on their utility bills and picked up weekly.

After hearing feedback from the community asking for a smaller bin option for those that do not produce much trash, the agreement between the city, Wegima, and Lance was amended to include a third option.

This third option will allow households to choose a 65-gallon container for pick up once a month for $10 billed monthly to their utility bill. These containers will be distinguished from the weekly pickups with different colored lids. Residents can select their bin sizes on the City of Mt. Pleasant website.

Additionally, the council chose to postpone the start date for the new solid waste collection system from Feb. 1 to March 1. The first collections will begin Wednesday March 6 and Thursday March 7, and the cost of collection will begin to appear on utility bills the first week of April.

Wemiga and Lance will deliver the appropriate bins to households between Feb. 22-March 2.

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When collection begins, residents are asked to place their bins at the curb by 6 a.m. the day of pick up. Bins should be placed with handle and wheels facing the house, six feet away from any objects and with 15 feet of clearance above the container. Lids on the bins must close and no other trash containers will be accepted.

While these details are clearly outlined, some specifics may require additional conversation between residents, their haulers, and/or the city. At the last city council meeting, however, a few nuances were discussed.

“We’re going to work with the public,” Lynne Whaley of Wegima responded to a question about when monthly pickups will occur if someone is away on pickup day.

On a similar note, Whaley answered questions about trash collection in the event of inclement weather.

“It's like if we can't get on a city street because the roads are really bad and we miss trash for two weeks, we’re going to take extra, because we have to,” he said. “There’s no choice.”

Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Lyle Murray addressed concerns raised by resident Donna Long about issues with people dumping their trash in local dumpsters.

“If you see somebody doing that, you give us a call with a license plate number, because that is actually a crime,” Murray said. “We can handle that.”

When Long said she was unable to get a license plate, Murray assured her that she could still call the Mt. Pleasant Police Department.

“You can call us, and we’ll dig through trash to figure it out,” he said.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com