The Eureka Springs City Council has approved the first reading of an amended ordinance that would eliminate the yellow trash bag system that has been used in the city for many years.
During its regular meeting Monday, Jan. 8, the council voted 4-2 to revamp the system used for Carroll County Solid Waste District to pick up trash in the city.
Currently, yellow trash bags sold at Harts Family Center are used for trash, with all bags that are put out on the street being picked up. The proposed changes will allow residents to use any kind of trash bag they desire, with a limit of two bags of trash per week placed directly streetside or the use of a trash can up to 35 gallons with a closed lid. If more bags of trash are needed outside of a trash can then the additional bags must have a tag attached. Tags for excess bags can be purchased for $1.75 each.
The proposed new policy is uniform with similar policies that have been in place for many years in Berryville and Green Forest, according to representatives of the Carroll County Solid Waste District.
“Two trash bags plus [extra bags] with a bag tag or a trash can with as many bags that
■ Council authorizes Berry to seek funding for repairs to wastewater system / Page 6
will fit in that trash can with the lid closed,” council member Autumn Slane said when explaining the proposed ordinance recently drafted by city attorney Forrest Jacobi.
Council members agreed the yellow bag system was started using a “flimsy” bag to encourage recycling.
“The yellow bags, in the beginning it was all about the education and it was for encouragement of recycling,” Slane said. “But what it has caused now is an unlimited bag, however many you want to throw out there.”
Some council members felt changing the system would deter residents who don’t live in the city from buying the yellow bags and then bringing their trash and setting it along city streets.
“It was pretty disheartening in our meeting when Carroll County Waste was here and they said people out in the country are buying those bags and bringing garbage in here,” council member Melissa Greene said. “This will stop that.”
Council members Terry Mc-Clung and Harry Meyer voted against the ordinance, saying they felt the current system was efficient.
“How long have we been doing this with the yellow bags?” McClung asked before getting an answer of 30 years from Mayor Butch Berry. “Then I’ve been throwing away for 30 years because I’ve been doing it the whole time. And quite frankly, it’s no big deal. It’s really not. I don’t know that changing is really going to resolve anything.
“I don’t think there’s going to be more or less trash that’s missed. I think it’s probably going to be about the same because the people that do that kind of thing are going to continue. And those that want to be responsible, like most of us, of mankind, will try to be responsible and recycle. So, I think it’s fine like it is. But I’m up for whatever. I’m just along for the ride.”
The ordinance will have to be approved by the council two additional times before taking effect 30 days later.
COUNCIL: CAMPGROUND WELL SHOULD BE METERED Instead of taking steps to adopt a proposed ordinance that would have required Kettle Campground to hook up to the city’s water system in order to determine sewage service costs, the council opted to take a different route at the Jan. 8 meeting.
After several council members — and an attorney representing the campground — voiced an opinion that the city legally couldn’t force the campground to connect to city water, the council voted 5-1 for the city to enter an agreement with the owners to have a meter installed on the well used at the facility.
That meter on the well would be used to determine the amount of sewage from the campground for billing purposes. While Kettle Campground has been using the city’s sewer services for years, it has never become a water customer. With the city using water consumption as a means to bill for sewage service, the campground has never paid for sewer use, according to Simon Wiley, the city’s public works director.
“I don’t think we should make it mandatory that they connect [to city water],” Slane said, referring to a proposed ordinance drafted by Jacobi at the council’s request. “I thought we were more making it mandatory that they just paid for sewage, whether that means putting a meter on their well or putting a meter on their sewage usage.”
Stevin Williams, an attorney representing the campground owners, spoke during the public comments portion of the meeting, saying that requiring the campground owners to hook up to city water would violate their property and water rights. He also said that the owners have no issue paying for sewage service and that putting a meter on the sewer was the proper route to go.
“The assertion of billing sewage off of water for them is also kind of odd because they fill up RV holding tanks,” Williams said. “We’re not talking about confined commercial operations, where all the water that goes through sinks and through all the drains end up going back out into the wastewater.”
Wiley, however, explained that the current ordinance in place prohibits putting a meter on the sewer system.
“That’s the biggest issue with them is they don’t want their well metered,” he said. “They want their sewer metered. But, our ordinance says that we meter through water. …So, it’s either we put a meter on their well … or we meter their sewage, which would have to have an amendment to the ordinance.”
Council member David Avanzino cast the lone vote against the motion, saying he felt the sewer system should be metered, not the well.
COUNCIL CAPC REPS REMAIN
In a quick vote, Avanzino and Steve Holifield were approved to remain as the council representatives on the City Advertising and Promotion Commission for another year.
Avanzino, Holifield and Slane raised their hand when Berry asked who on the council would be interested in filling the roles. By hand vote, Avanzino and Holifield had enough votes before any tally for Slane was needed.
“They’ve done a really good job,” Greene said, after the votes, of Avanzino and Holifield’s service on the CAPC.
The council also unanimously approved Brian Weinmann, owner of Bubba’s BBQ, to fill the last open seat on the CAPC.
“Congratulations, Mike, for having a full commission for the first time in many years,” Berry said after the vote, presumably directing his comment to CAPC interim director Mike Maloney.
OTHER APPROVALS
The council approved McClung to serve as Mayor Pro Tempore and voted to continue to meet on the second and fourth Mondays each month and to use the Arkansas Municipal League’s Procedural Rules for Municipal Officials as the guide for parliamentary procedures at meetings.
