Village council rejects solid waste fee • The Yellow Springs News

At the village council meeting on Monday, November 21, council members announced a 2% solid waste fund to raise funds for education and materials aimed at reducing the amount of organic waste that villagers send with their solid waste. We rejected the waste fee.

The proposed bill follows conversations at a village council meeting on Nov. 7, when councilor Marian McQueen announced that the village’s solid waste management plan would continue after renewing her contract with Rumpke, the village’s solid waste collector. He proposed adding a fee to the 10% increase in the property bill.

Village manager Josue Salmeron said he had been thinking about the additional fee for some time and said the fee would allow the village to leverage links with organizations already working to provide manure collection services. .

“I saw this as a real opportunity to strengthen local cooperation,” Salmeron said. “No matter what we do, it has little effect on interest rates.”

Although the impact is small, Salmeron recommended that members of the council choose to adjust their fees without imposing a 2% fee.

In his remarks encouraging the Council to choose its tolls, McQueen said Yellow Springs should consider how future generations would view the Council if they chose to do nothing about reducing solid waste. He said it should be considered.

“Twenty or thirty years from now, our grandchildren will ask why we didn’t do anything,” McQueen said.

Commenting on Yellow Springs’ current recycling practices, McQueen said the village could do more to educate villagers about recycling and composting best practices.

“I think everyone here understands that the way we produce goods cannot sustain itself,” she said. It’s actually recycled.”

McQueen said other communities in Ohio have similar organic waste models, citing Bexley, a suburb of Columbus, as an example of a curbside organic waste collection program.

“It’s possible,” McQueen said. “I thought 2% meant 32 cents a month [for customers purchasing the lowest tier of garbage collection]”

During the legislative reading hearing portion, villager Patricia Brown is in favor of doing more to encourage composting and recycling, but wants the village to have a plan before charging the new fees. I want you to stand up.

Council member Kevin Stokes also wants to come up with a plan and says he’s looking at other options.

“I’m wondering if we should use this opportunity to stay out of the increased costs,” says Stokes.

Before voting on the legislation itself, the Council, in a 4-to-1 vote, chose to have the no-additional-fee option read into the record. McQueen was the only council member to vote “no”. A vote to adopt a fee increase of 10% to cover Rumpke’s fee was also passed by his 4-1 vote, with MacQueen being the only “no” vote.

Other Village Council business on November 21st will include:

• Council members unanimously passed a resolution giving Amy Kemper, the new Treasurer, check-signing privileges and access to the Village’s bank accounts.

• In a 3-0 vote, Council members Carmen Brown, Stokes and Gavin DeVore Leonard voted to allow village managers to enter into a licensing agreement with villager Patrick Lake’s Massie Creek Ventures. Council members Marian McQueen and Brian Hausch declined to vote, citing a “potential conflict of interest” and advice from the village attorney.

Under the agreement, Massey Creek will have access to public land near the YS Lumber Company site, and the village will not relinquish its rights to that space.

In addition to access, Massie Creek Ventures will install stairs, ramps, and public-access restrooms to enable people with disabilities to access their businesses. Village attorney Amy Blankenship said a last-minute addition to the contract would set a completion date for the public restrooms. If the project is not realized by that date, the license becomes invalid.

• The council unanimously approved a bill to repeal and replace the treasurer’s role description in village ordinances.

• The council unanimously approved the fourth quarter supplement to the village budget. Additional funding includes his $20,000 maintenance fee for his RITA services after the village brings him more revenue than expected in 2022. The supplement includes $25,000 in overtime paid to village workers after several major blackouts, $46,000 in additional solid waste costs, and $4,400. Spending on blankets and other supplies for the homeless population of the village. The village spends the money and is reimbursed with a grant from the Yellow Springs Community Foundation.

• Council members unanimously approved a resolution allowing village managers to contract JNT Excavating to replace 2-inch galvanized water pipes throughout the village.

The contract, according to public works director Johnny Barnes, will use a $1.2 million grant the village received earlier this year to replace the tracks on eight streets in the village and upgrade the original engineering plan. increasing from 6 streets. Burns said he believes construction will be completed by 2024 and that the village complies with water and wastewater requirements mandated by the state.