Q.C. council votes to delay trash decision

Queen Creek residents won't know whether they'll have townwide curbside waste pickup until February.

The council on Wednesday asked town staff to explore different options for manure pickup and the possibility of letting individual residents opt out of town trash service. The council voted 5-1 to delay the decision until those questions are answered, with Councilman Jeff Brown voting no.

That was the second vote the council took Wednesday on the trash contract. The first vote, which was 3-3, turned down the contract, with Brown, Jon Wootten and Craig Barnes dissenting. After that vote, Councilman Gordon Mortensen made a second motion to delay a decision while a few issues could be worked out, so the contract is still up in the air.

Residents have to haul their own trash or individually contract with trash and recycling companies for pickup service at the moment. This contract would be the first townwide curbside pickup for trash and recycling.

Residents would be charged $15.41 per month for once-a-week trash and recycling pickup and once-a-month scheduled bulk pickup. Households could get an extra trash container for $7 a month.

Customers could also stop the service for two to six months if they leave town for an extended period of time.

By 2:30 p.m. on the day of the council meeting, the town had 302 pieces of feedback from residents about the proposal, including a petition against the plan with 92 signatures.

The rest of the feedback included 117 expressing support and 185 raising concerns. Some of the people raising concerns were opposed, while others raised a few questions but said they supported the proposal overall, said Deputy Town Manager Shane Dille.

Eight residents took a position on the service at the meeting, three of them in favor.

Mike Terrill told the council he was disappointed when he moved to Queen Creek more than two years ago and found that there wasn't curbside recycling.

While some people have raised concerns that once-a-week trash pickup isn't enough, Terrill said he's found that more than half of his garbage ends up in his recycling bin, negating the need for twice-a-week trash pickup.

"As a community service, I think it's the right thing, the progressive thing, for you to do," Terrill said.

But the two main sticking points ended up being waste disposal on large lots and what to do with horse manure.

There are about 1,500 lots in town that are one acre or larger. Three of the remaining commenters said they liked parts of the proposal, especially the recycling, but the entire package didn't address the needs of horse owners or others on large lots.

"I have a Dumpster. I live on five acres. I know some people who live on one acre who have a Dumpster because they need the volume," said Eric Kerr.

And while Kerr said he would use the recycling, a 95-gallon trash container wouldn't be enough for him.

"I'm not going to benefit from it. I'm going to be taxed for it," he said. "That's $15 out of my pocket for something I'm not going to use."

Dille said that while most of the focus has been on smaller residential properties, the town did also negotiate a $30 rate for large front-loader-type containers. So while residents on large lots would still have to pay the $15.41 a month, a larger container would be only $30 more.

Horse owner Bob Cason said manure needed more consideration, too.

Cason has 15 horses and has had to haul so much manure that he's developed a business that works with landscape companies to get rid of a lot of it in fertilizer.

Cason said after the meeting that there are a lot of things to consider when getting rid of manure, such as the high rates some companies charge to haul it away and the ammonia content, which will eat through a metal container if its left alone too long.

Councilman Jon Wootten agreed that more thought needed to be given to manure.

If horse owners think drying and bagging manure is too cumbersome to get rid of it, it could push them out of town, he said.

Wootten also raised a cost issue. Queen Creek would have to spend $750,000 upfront to purchase waste containers, which the town would basically borrow from its investments and then pay itself back at a 4 percent interest rate over seven years.

However, Wootten questioned whether this was the right time to use that money to start a service already provided by private industry, especially when the town has cut its budget and reduced staff levels so much in recent years.

"I'm really sick of giving pink slips to staff," Wootten said. "And I'm afraid we're not out of the woods yet."