TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Adam Lindsay, Assistant City Manager
FROM: Daniel Edwards, Assistant Director of Public Services,
Sheila Thomas-Ambat, PE, CCM, CFM, Director of Public Services
DATE: January 9, 2023
RE:
Title
Solid Waste Ordinance Amendments
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
All
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal 4: Desirable Place to Live, Work and Recreate
Goal 5: Financially Sound City Providing Exemplary City Services
Executive Summary:
As staff reviews best practices and peer city comparisons, we seek Council and Public input on several recommended changes/updates to the current ordinance. Staff seeks concurrence to modify Chapter 22 to include updated definitions and service level changes for carts, yard waste, limbs, and below-standard/unmaintained streets. The options presented will bring consistency, predictability, and enforceability to the solid waste services for the City of Fayetteville.
Background:
On October 4, 2020, SW Division discussed with Council how the Solid Waste Ordinance, service levels, and other considerations regarding municipal Solid Waste collection operations needed revisions. The SW Division emphasized how the City of Fayetteville has endured a steady increase of blight and non-compliant code violations; litter; illegal dumping; and other public nuisances regarding blight and trash. Also highlighted was Chapter 22, Municipal Solid Waste, which has not been updated in several years. The ordinance lacks the definition of clearly defined processes and procedures used by the division. Additionally, the ordinance does not clearly describe customer type, services, and code enforcement. The SW Division recommended to Council to allow us to revise Chapter 22 of the Municipal Ordinance and consider substantive changes in a presentation to Council for discussion and approval.
Staff has previously provided Council Peer City comparisons showing the frequency and quantity of the service delivered by our sister Cities. The comparisons have shown that Solid Waste Services for the City of Fayetteville are equal to, and in many instances, greater than our peers.
Changes included in the ordinance but not in the presentation are updated definitions, authority and designee, ownership of materials, cart size, and updated terminology.
On October 4, 2021, Solid Waste presented the first approach to reducing enforcement and providing consistency and predictability by recommending every other week collection of Bulky and Limb services. This practice has begun and is successful, albeit with periodic challenges on service delivery due to weather, and fleet and personnel resource availability.
Staff are now presenting recommendations of the completed ordinance including new service limits.
Issues/Analysis:
As a core city service of a city of over 200,000 residents, we are proud of the fact that the weekly collection of solid waste and every other week collection of recycling materials is a huge success with very few complaints and uncorrected mistakes. The demands to deliver services, including costs related from human and vehicle capital, continue to rise as do the challenges to overcome the shortages to find and maintain these two critical resources. In short, money alone is not going to fix the challenges. Expectations must be level set and we seek to do that through this discussion and ordinance update. As staff weighs the perceived interests of the Council regarding solid waste we more often hear of the negative experiences. Sometimes, complaints are driven by expectations and practices that are not sustainable when contrasted with the ordinance and peer cities. However, we know how important it is to have policies and practices that enhance and maintain the aesthetics and health and safety of the community. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to providing the extra services, as some large cities limit or do not even provide limb, bulky, and yard debris.
While we are not recommending any drastic reductions in services at this time, our aim is to share with you a few recommended changes to areas within the ordinance that have been topics of complaint or frustration from citizens. The intent is to align the ordinance based on affordable available resources while providing predictable, consistent, and enforceable services.
These topical areas include: 1) rollout carts, 2) yard waste and large limbs, and 3) collection along privately owned and managed streets that have fallen into disrepair. Our intention is to clarify the rules and, while reducing the level of service in some cases, improve the ability to enforce and manage expectations.
We appreciate the support and input from SPA, Public Services, Parks & Rec, and Developmental Services, as we explored and discussed challenges, inconsistencies, and opportunities to ensure that we can provide a level of service that is acceptable and affordable to Fayetteville.
Budget Impact:
At this time there is no budget impact from these recommended ordinance changes. However, the demands on our service delivery and the cost to provide these services will need to be discussed in greater detail. Policies related to the service levels and the fees to pay for these service levels are not on a sustainable trajectory.
Options:
Staff is seeking consensus from Council for the following:
1. Accept recommendations on the proposed ordinance revisions for operations.
2. Do not provide consensus to move forward the proposed ordinance revisions for operations and provide further direction.
Recommended Action:
1. Staff recommends that Council move to accept recommendations on the proposed ordinance revisions for operations.
Attachments:
Solid Waste Ordinance Limits Work Session Presentation 1.9.23
Peer City Comparison
Solid Waste Ordinance Revisions Clean
Solid Waste Ordinance Revisions Redline