Lodi City Council says public input still needed as it considers solid waste rate hike
Mar. 7—The Lodi City Council will consider raising solid waste collection rates next week to coincide with new state mandates requiring residents to keep food waste out of trash bins.
If approved, the new rates will take effect April 1, with some residents seeing an increase of $5 a month, and others seeing slight reductions in their bills.
During the council's regular meeting last week, Vice Mayor Lisa Craig said she wanted to make sure that residents planning on attending the March 15 meeting know their opinions will be taken seriously.
"I've heard from some people that they feel it's a baked-in deal, and they're really (thinking) 'what's the point?' (in attending). And I don't agree with that at all," she said.
"We have a lot of smart people in this community who sometimes come in (to meetings) with some very good ideas that the council didn't think of or staff didn't think of," she added. "So for anybody out there who thinks we don't take public comment seriously, I'm saying we do. I expect to have you come in, I expect to hear from my citizens."
Along with rate increases, many residents will see their 20- and 35-gallon trash carts eliminated, and they will be issued new 64-gallon bins.
However, Waste Management said rates for the new trash bins will only increase by $5 next year.
So, those with 20-gallon bins will see increases from $25.82 a month to $30.82, and those with 35-gallon bins will see an increase of $35.60 a month to $40.60.
Customers who currently use 64-gallon containers will see a $2 decrease to $44.06, and those with 96-gallon containers will see a roughly $51 decrease to $49.06.
Rates for customers who used to have 20- and 35-gallon bins will increase by $5 each year until they meet the new 64-gallon rate of $44.06.
Waste Management spokesman Paul Rosynsky said that while increasing trash capacity might seem counterintuitive, the larger trash carts are a necessity in Lodi to ensure recycling and organic materials are not contaminated and trash carts are not overfilled.
The company performed an audit last summer with the city and the California Conservation Corps, and found that 64% of the 20- and 35-gallon carts were overfilled.
In addition, nearly 40% of customers were placing trash in their recycling bins.
Rosynksy said the company has tried several ways to address the issue through education campaigns and manual inspections of carts and fines, the latter of which began in 2017 and resulted in a "tremendous amount" of negative feedback.
"We understand customers are seeking the lowest rate possible and subscribe to service based on
economics, not on trash volume need," he said. "Our proposed approach attempts to level the playing field by lowering the cost of the larger carts. However, the only way to make this feasible is to have more customers subscribe to a larger cart size."
Under SB 1383, the state mandate requiring that food waste be placed in yard waste bins, all three collection carts will be audited and reviewed to reduce contamination.
Rosynsky said Waste Management routinely audits routes by dumping contents in a separate pile before processing and sifting through materials to determine the level of contamination.
It also uses cameras and GPS to spot contamination at the point of service to determine the exact location of service, he said.
Moving forward, each Waste Management truck will have video equipment taking pictures of containers as they are emptied.
Containers for every customer will be audited, and if any of the bins contain materials that do not belong, Waste Management crews will make note of the address.
A letter will then be mailed to the customer describing what materials go in which bin. A first violation after the warning letter will result in a $50 fine.
A second violation after the warning will be a $100 fine, and a third violation will result in a $250 fine.
Rosynsky said the company's goal is to provide the best quality service at the best value to customers in Lodi, adding that several communities throughout the state are facing larger increases under the new mandates.
"Our goal with these proposed changes is to reduce and hopefully eliminate contamination in Lodi," he said. "Eliminating contamination will allow Lodi to recycle more materials, and it will make those materials more valuable since they will be cleaner, and it will ensure the city is in compliance with state laws requiring the separation of recycling and organic material from trash. Our plan sets Lodi up for the future."
In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 1383 into law, setting methane emission reduction targets for California.
The bill's goal is to reduce organic waste disposal in landfills 75% from 2014 levels by 2025, or from about 23 million tons to 5.7 million tons.
The law requires every jurisdiction in the state to provide organic waste collection services to businesses and residents.
Organic waste includes food, green material, landscape and pruning waste, organic textiles and carpets, lumber, wood, paper products, printing and writing paper, manure, biosolids, digestate and sludges, according to CalRecycle.
When these organic materials break down they emit methane.
According to CalRecycle, organic materials make up 20% of the state's methane.
The new law requires residents to place all excess food into their yard waste bins instead of the trash.
When local trash collectors such as Waste Management collect the bins, the contents will be placed on a compost pile to create biogas, a renewable energy source that can be used as fuel for vehicles or a replacement of natural gas used for heating and cooking, according to www.nationalgrid.com
Waste Management plans to replace the 20- and 35-gallon carts with 64-gallon carts before the end of 2023, Rosynsky said. The new trash, recycling and organics carts for all residents will be delivered by the end of 2024, depending on cart supply.
Next week's meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Carnegie Forum, 305 W. Pine St.. It will be livestreamed on www.facebook.com/CityofLodi.
