Rollout of roll carts for city trash collection coming next March after council vote

By this time next year, Columbia residents will put their trash into roll carts at the curb instead of loose bags.

The Columbia City Council in a 7-0 vote Monday approved an ordinance moving the city toward an automated, or roll-cart system for trash collection.

The ordinance does not go into effect until March 4, 2024, however, giving time for the city to receive the necessary leased vehicles, among other preparations, and providing public education on the new system.

Curbside bags will be the status quo for the next year.

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The one-year window also allows city staff to come back with updates related to medical waste waivers and streamlining disability-related trash and other utility-assistance processes after public and council concerns were voiced Monday. House collection rules remain in place for those physically unable to place a cart at the curb.

The debate over roll carts and the city's trash system has occurred at least the last seven years when Columbia voters instituted a roll-cart ban in 2016.

The city council in April 2022 approved an ordinance that would have put the roll-cart question back to voters since the ban still was in place. The council voted to lift the ban and removed the August ballot question the following month.

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The trash conversation was picked back up in November following the city budget process, and the ceasing of the logo bag requirement for city-collected trash happened in December.

Any updates to the city's recycling system is a separate conversation and report coming later in the year, said Dave Sorrell, utilities director answering a question from Fifth Ward Council Member Matt Pitzer.

How the roll system works

For residences that will transition to using roll carts, there will be three size options at a commensurate monthly fee: 35-gallon at $12.87; 65-gallon at $17.37, which is the current monthly rate for all customers; or 95-gallon at $22.50 per month. Apartment buildings and other residential structures with more than four units use communal dumpsters rather than curbside trash pick-up.

For those who receive a 95-gallon cart, there is an each additional cart fee of $13.50 if more than one is needed. For residents who need an additional cart pickup outside of the regularly scheduled day, there is a sliding scale extra pick-up fee of $7.70, $12,20 or $16.70 depending on cart size.

Ashes or other fire-remnants, bulky items, rocks, dirt or construction debris cannot go in carts. Carts can be placed on the curb no earlier than 4 p.m. the day prior to pickup and must be at the curb by 6:30 a.m. day of pickup. Carts must be removed from the curb by 10 p.m. the day of pickup There also are minimum clearance requirements spelled out in the ordinance as described in a staff memo to the council.

The city will lease nine CDL-rated trucks and two non-CDL-rated trucks for trash collection. Other trucks already owned by the city for dumpster collection or bulky-item collection will remain in the city's fleet, Sorrell said.

The city electing to not continue with the logo bags and deferred vehicle replacement the last couple years means the city has $3.8 million to implement the roll-cart system. Truck leasing is $900,000 and the purchase of carts is $2.1 million, leaving roughly $874,000, which will partially be used on public education, Sorrell said.

Ongoing costs will include the annual $900,000 vehicle lease, which will be planned in the department's annual budget, Sorrell noted in the staff memo.

Public comments

The lack of a democratic process via a citywide vote was among the concerns voiced by Columbia attorney Dan Viets speaking against the ordinance during public comments Monday. He also voiced concerns related to neighborhood aesthetics due to the roll carts and possible lack of enforcement of curbside timeframe rules.

Also speaking against the ordinance was resident Rod Perry, also noting concerns over the lack of a citywide vote.

While a citywide vote would have been preferred, the date for that has passed and many municipalities have adopted automated trash collection, said First Ward Council Member Pat Fowler. She sees positives with the system for employee safety, she added.

Most of the other comments Monday were in favor of the ordinance. Mark Haim with Mid-Missouri Peaceworks shared his hope this could lead toward incentivizing waste reduction. Resident Karen Sicheneder expressed that the roll cart system could be the first step toward the city providing separate recycling carts as well.

Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general subjects for the Tribune. You can reach him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Columbia is getting roll carts for trash collection. Next year.