With a 5-1 vote, alderman Harry Meyer being the only dissenting vote, Eureka Springs City Council decided on Monday to scrap the yellow trash bag service in exchange for a two bag and tag service for residents.
Representatives from Carroll County Solid Waste were in attendance to answer questions before they moved forward on any changes to how the city is serviced. Currently, residents may purchase yellow trash bags at Harts grocery and CCSW will pick up any amount of those trash bags each week.
The system has caused concern among council and some residents that people from outside the city limits are using those yellow bags and dumping them on the street side on the day CCSW picks trash up. It has been mentioned in previous meetings that the yellow bags were originally used to help promote recycling by residents, and CCSW representatives have mentioned that Eureka Springs has the highest recycling rate in the county by far.
Meyer, citing how few bags he uses each week, said, “As far as I’m concerned, the current situation is fine.” There was concern in public comments and by alderman that the original point of the yellow bags had been lost over the years and there should be a push to educate the public on the county recycling program.
Alderman David Avanzino asked CCSW what educational opportunities were available, and representatives said they have a mobile classroom to visit the area schools. While they cited the Covid-19 pandemic as slowing down that program, they said they intended to ramp the program back up. They also mentioned that they intend to update the solid waste’s website and could forward links to the site with educational material to the city for use on its website.
Meyer asked if they could send pamphlets with information to each water customer and the CCSW reps said they could have more pamphlets at the Public Works department.
Alderman Autumn Slane asked if council wanted to change the bag program, with Meyer saying he’d want to see how educating the public would affect the use.
Alderman Steve Holifield voiced support for a two-bag limit, reminding council that there is only one provider for the yellow bags and that Public Works Director Simon Wiley had told them that if that distributor stops providing them, the city will need to switch programs anyway.
Discussion lent to concern over the change. Meyer said that trash bags might be left out on the side of the road with no one to pick them up. CCSW assured council that the department would work with the city to investigate those leaving bags out on the side of the road without paying for tags. They also said that while there would be a transition, the limited bag program works in other municipalities in the county without issue.
Slane made the motion to have an ordinance drafted with Holifield seconding.
Other Items
- Wiley gave an update on the sewer plant, saying that the pump the city had ordered had come in and was being installed that evening. He said the Water department would be meeting with McClelland Engineering over the coming days to further discuss updates to the sewer plant including a rock catch for the pumps.
- City Clerk Ida Meyer said she was speaking with other cities in Arkansas about resources they’ve used to evaluate city sidewalks.