AGENDA #2b
BUDGET WORKING PAPER
TO: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
FROM: Bruce Heflin, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: Discussion of Options for Yard Waste Collection
DATE: April 4, 2001
This report discusses the option for collecting residential yard waste with a relatively high degree of predictability using existing resources in the Solid Waste Services Division of the Public Works Department.
We presented a report to the Town Council on November 13, 2000, which identified options for collecting residential yard waste. The first option discussed was “status quo” collection, with a service level of an average two-week unscheduled pickup cycle throughout most of the year. This option did not require additional resources.
Two other options contrasted with this unscheduled service involved additional resources. The first involved one added crew at a cost of $108,300 in the first year and resulted in a service level of scheduled collection every other week (even/odd). The second involved two added crews at a cost of $216,700 in the first year and resulted in a service level of weekly scheduled service on a specific day.
The consensus of the Council was that citizens generally were more concerned that the service schedule was unpredictable than they were with the frequency of collections. The Council requested an option as part of the budget process for fiscal 2001-02 in which service predictability would be increased without additional resources, either personnel or equipment.
When the conversion was made to weekly curbside collection of residential refuse in February 2001, for half of the Town, we started a new system for collection of yard waste for those residents involved in the change. We have retained the task system for residential crews for that half of Town, using Mondays and Tuesdays of each week for residential routes. We also placed collection of yard waste (i.e., small piles and containers only) on the task system, using Thursdays and Fridays for those residences included in the first phase of curbside service. The result thus far has been scheduled collection of yard waste each week on a day certain, either Thursday or Friday. The same crews that collect residential garbage on Mondays and Tuesdays are able to collect yard waste on the same routes on Thursdays and Fridays.
While this service improvement has been possible without additional resources, we note that use of the task system for collection of yard waste is experimental. Also, we have only two months of experience from which to study results. The quantity of yard waste placed for collection during this period has been relatively light. We will need to experience the new system over a longer period of time to understand its effectiveness. For example, we will evaluate services during peak workload demand periods, including the aftermath of severe storms, to see if we can sustain weekly collections on specific days.
If the Council agrees, we will plan to implement the second phase of curbside service for the remaining half of the Town as early in fiscal 2001-2002 as possible. As with the first year of change, we would collect yard waste on the task system, resulting in a scheduled weekly service level (with day specific) throughout the Town. Again, we anticipate achieving this objective with the same number of crews that service the curbside routes for collection of residential garbage. We also note that this service level will be provided only for yard waste in small piles or in containers, with no collection of bags. If successful, we will have achieved the higher level of yard waste collection service without adding crews.
We would analyze the results of this experimental use of the task system once the entire Town has been converted to determine if the scheduled service remains feasible. Based on our experience thus far, we are cautiously optimistic that such service is possible without additional crews dedicated to yard waste collection.
We believe that preparation requirements are critical to the success of this pursuit. We will continue to ask citizens to use containers for yard waste, to keep piles of yard waste sufficiently small and to refrain from using bags. We plan to continue to use the knuckle boom truck for collection of large piles. In addition, until curbside is fully implemented, we would continue to collect yard waste for that half of the Town with rear yard garbage collection using existing resources. We believe that our current service cycle of an average of two weeks will be maintained until that half of the Town is converted next fiscal year.
Because the curbside collection of garbage appears to be even more efficient than we had projected, we believe that we will probably be able to provide scheduled pickup of small piles and containers of yard waste without any increase in resources. However, we will not be able to confirm this situation until we have experienced a full year with curbside pickup and have implemented curbside pickup Town-wide. Therefore, we would plan to report back to the Council on this topic in a year, unless otherwise directed.