AGENDA #12d

 

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

 

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

FROM:            Bill Letteri, Public Works Director

 

SUBJECT:       Bi-Weekly Vegetative Debris Collection

 

DATE:             April 20, 2005

 

The following report discusses reduction of once weekly scheduled yard waste collection to bi-weekly scheduled collection as recommended by the Citizens Budget Subcommittee.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The town presently provides weekly collection of vegetative debris, either on Thursday or Friday, to coincide with a Monday or Tuesday residential garbage collection day respectively. Prior to the weekly present service schedule, we averaged two week collection cycles throughout most of any given year. In prior years, we sometimes reached six to eight week collection cycles given our residual daily staffing after dispatching regular garbage routes, time of year and quantities placed for collection. The unpredictability and relatively infrequent collections were the source of most of our departmental service complaints from citizens.

 

We periodically analyzed the provision of scheduled collection of yard waste through additional dedicated staff and equipment and found that such a service would cost between $300,000 and $400,000 annually. One of the benefits we realized from conversion of residential collection to once weekly curbside service was establishment of a weekly service level. Given operational efficiencies resulting from establishment of curbside service, we have been able to achieve the weekly scheduled vegetative debris collection service cycle. Complaints regarding such service have dropped off almost entirely.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Citizens Budget Subcommitte recommends reducing yard waste collection service to twenty weeks of weekly service during the period from October 1 to December 15 and between February 15 to April 1 each year. We note the following relative disadvantages of this recommended service reduction.

 

 

The following chart demonstrates that months in which vegetative debris placed for collections are highest include February through May. During this time, scheduling reliable bi-weekly service would be difficult. If quantities were allowed to accumulate over two week periods during these months, then our collection crews would be challenged to effectively and efficiently collect because of the quantities involved. In addition, three holiday periods occur between the months of November and January, which eliminates one collection cycle per month during that time. In January, we experience significant quantities of Christmas trees placed for collection. For example, quantities have exceeded 100 tons in January during the past two years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Solid Waste Services Division operates on an incentive, or task, system. When the routes are finished, crew members may leave work for the day. After the 2002 ice storm, crews worked on yard debris collection for 10-hour days, 2 days a week, for 4 months before we were able to return to the task system.  If employees were diverted from Thursday/Friday vegetative collections every other week during the cited periods, then it would be difficult to continue the incentive system for those employees thus diverted. Many of our employees rely on one or more other jobs in order to afford to continue to work here. If we jeopardize their ability to do so without offsetting salary adjustments, then their personal life styles and those of their immediate families would suffer accordingly.

 

 

We believe that this service change likely would not allow reductions in either number of positions and/or trucks, so cost savings would be minimal, if any. We believe retention of existing staff and equipment would be necessary for such services as reliable scheduled residential garbage collections, special events clean-up, dead animal collection, bulky waste collection, support of neighborhood clean-ups and support of other Public Works operations in severe inclement weather events.

 

We have considered provision of bi-weekly scheduled vegetative debris collection on a specific day of the week for all town residences. We believe that this significant service reduction from the current once weekly collection would require the following:

 

·        all yard waste would have to be containerized

·        loose piles would not be collected

·        properly bundled or containerized brush could only be placed at the curb on the day of collection

·        contract landscapers would have to haul their own yard waste

 

Under current town rules, residents may place vegetative debris piles up to three cubic yards at the curb for collection. Before once weekly scheduled collection began, these piles often exceeded three cubic yards, greatly reducing our productivity. We believe that residents are better able to keep piles under three cubic yards with once weekly collection and do not believe this would be likely if service is changed to bi-weekly collection.

 

To ensure that a route could be scheduled bi-weekly and completed, it would be necessary for all vegetative waste to be containerized. Currently, residents have the option of using any hard back container or purchasing a 95-gallon yard debris cart from Public Works for $43 per cart, that only a relatively portion of the population uses carts for collection. As a matter of policy, the town would have to decide whether the town would provide such carts, charge for them, or require residents to obtain them.

 

We would not recommend any personnel or equipment reduction with this option. The division not only collects residential garbage and brush, we also 1) collect bulky waste items; 2) remove dead animals from rights-of-way; and 3) provide cleaning services in downtown areas daily and during periodic neighborhood cleanups. The constant moving in and out of the student population challenges existing work crews in performance of clean-up duties. Additionally, downtown event clean-up requires considerable resources and challenges us to ensure that crews can perform the primary collection task of garbage removal on the day following the particular event.

 

SUMMARY/RECOMMENDATION: We do not recommend changes to the service level for collection of vegetative debris. Such change as proposed 1) does not acknowledge certain periods that include highest quantities of such debris; 2) would jeopardize worker incentive, (or task,) system; and 3) cost savings would be nominal, if any, because personnel and equipment likely could not be reduced.