With long lines and limited hours at the Jefferson County Solid Waste facility off South Jacob Miller Road, the city of Port Townsend is considering easing that burden by increasing the minimum …
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With long lines and limited hours at the Jefferson County Solid Waste facility off South Jacob Miller Road, the city of Port Townsend is considering easing that burden by increasing the minimum tipping fee for yard waste.
The minimum yard waste tipping fee at the county-owned facility could increase from the $5 minimum for
200 pounds to $20 for 800 pounds.
City councilmembers considered the potential increase in their discussion-only presentation delivered in last week’s business meeting, with officials discussing and weighing possible negative impacts by increasing the fee.
The intent of the potential move is to reduce the number of trips taken by people to drop off yard waste at the facility, with county solid waste staff saying the site isn’t set up to handle the number of visitors it currently gets.
“Part of the problem is that we don’t have an adequate queuing line both inbound, and more problematically, outbound,” Al Cairns, solid waste manager for Jefferson County Public Works, said during the council’s first meeting in May. “So we get a bottleneck where we have to ration how many people are coming in.”
While the transfer station is mostly operated by the county, the city does manage a compost facility at the location.
Councilmember Ben Thomas raised concerns about the tipping fee increase, including potential health hazards from less frequent trash drop-offs as well as increased illegal dumping in the county.
“Do we worry about it provoking more illegal dumping?” Thomas asked.
“Right now, we are kind of at the tipping point again of having too much yard waste,” Cairns said.
The county and city intend to invest in a new solid waste facility in the next five to 10 years, but the short-term objective is getting people to drop off their waste at higher quantities and less frequently.
“It’s not that this is quadrupling, it’s that we’re trying to reduce the number of trips so that everybody has a better experience going to the facility, because nobody wants to wait in that line for an hour,” said Councilmember Libby Urner Wennstrom.
The city is set to return to the potential tipping fee increase again in the near future.
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greggk47
An integrated ticket system issued by a machine upon entry (like a parking garage) showing your weight and an exit ticket reader showing your tare weight and charge that accepts debit or credit cards would speed things up. Using those with court ordered community service folks to help unload would also speed things up. Would operating 6 days a week and longer weekend hours be accommodated without price increases?
Friday, May 19 Report this
tailgate
Many of us don’t have a vehicle that can accommodate large loads, so will probably have to resort to unloading our yard waste in other places, or putting it in with our garbage.
Saturday, May 20 Report this
losterman
I already pack as much into my light pickup as I can, and rarely reach 400 lbs, paying less than $10. Having to pay $20 will be annoying. Guess I could tow a trailer through the gates, but that increases the time at the booth, and takes up space in the exit line. Or maybe I’ll start burning it. Is this really the way you want to go?
Saturday, May 20 Report this
BoatFixx
More clear cut evidence of a municipality bureaucracy not knowing how to operate, and manage business, and its procedures in an effective manner.
Put the operation up for bid to managed by private enterprise (with specific criteria, of course) and not to a non-profit, and you will receive efficient, and effective service with tiered fees that will satisfy the single person with a car trunk half full of garbage, (or yard waste) the construction guy with the dump trailer, and everyone in between.
It ain't rocket science, it is sound business practice and management.
Such logic often escapes salaried bureaucrats, and the inexperienced elected officials who hold the power.
Just sayin...
Sunday, May 21 Report this
dboushek
This could be solved by only allowing non-commercial yard waste to be dropped off during hours outside of normal solid waste hours. Only the weighing office would need to be staffed. This would greatly increase the capacity to serve residents. Ban drop offs by residents of yard waste during the normal hours, or implement the $20 fee for that.
Sunday, May 21 Report this