Lorain/Elyria, OH
Automated trash pickup proposal considered by Elyria City Council
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ELYRIA — Those automated garbage trucks that empty trash and recycling cans could be coming to 16,500 households in Elyria soon.
The proposed new refuse program would save a projected $254,075 a year, according to James Skora, a consultant with GT Environmental who conducted a study on the city’s behalf.
Instead of the current garbage bags, boxes or items set out on the curb, residents would be required to put their trash and recyclables into bins on wheels that would be emptied automatically into trucks by mechanical arms.
The number of people required to operate trash pickups would drop from 23 employees including supervisors to 15 including supervisors.
Each truck would have one employee handling pickup for 825 households versus a crew of refuse or recycling workers handling 550 homes a day, he said.
This is a good time to consider the program because of the age of the city’s fleet of garbage trucks, Skora said. Some date from 1992 or 1993, he said.
It would cost nearly $3.9 million to set up the automated trash program, Skora said. He said the cash-strapped city could pay for the new equipment — and still save the $254,075 a year — by issuing 10-year bonds to be paid back through refuse fees.
If the city decides to proceed with the program by Dec. 31, $300,000 is available through the Lorain County Solid Waste Management District’s Policy Committee, said Mayor Bill Grace, who is backing the program.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
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Sito, it physically pains me to even address you here, but…don’t tell me what I do and don’t care about. You don’t know me. You don’t actually know what I voted for, I haven’t told you anything. My point is grace has been forcing us to overpay anyhow. I’d rather continue to overpay if it means some people keep their jobs. And don’t even pretend that had grace made smarter financial decisions and cut 1 of the 2 secretaries that some people have, or not given people high salaries who are totally unqualified for their jobs, and then turn around and hire grace’s sister as a “consultant” to teach said unqualified person, or any of the other frivilous salaries we’ve been paying, that any of our safety forces would have been hit as hard as they were. Again, you don’t have anything constructive to add, you’re not even stating your opinion, you’re just being argumentative. FYI I got an email from Julie Wallace about you being on a short leash. I’d take it easy on the stupid comments, Sito.
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Why would sanitation loss there jobs? you no they will be tranfered to another department, if you do not think that they wouldn’t be you are kidding yourself. Remember council just early in the year voted those 43 resolutions to increase every line on your utilitie bill, do not forget that.
Talking to a friend of mine that works for the city he told me that Saturdays leaf pick-up last week was on the sewer department, that money that payed all the overtime on Saturday was from there, because leaves go into the sewers so that is how they got around that.
He also said that City Hall wanted to do it again this Saturday and sewer department said No!!!! Some good news though, he was telling me that City Hall cannot continue to take moneys from waste water that it is illegal and it will come to a end.
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Why did you get an email, Janet? Did you go crying to the webmaster because you can’t handle a different opinion? This is a fair site, it allows for opinions. Even if it is different from yours.
Stating my opinion on what? My gosh, I have thousands of opinions posted. Most of them based on research and facts as opposed to inuendos and rumors.
And if it bothers you to address me, don’t. No one is making you. Just ignore me.
And I hope you went to the webmaster concerning other posters that use very inappropriate language on here. If you did not, that would make you a hypocrite and no different than those you might complain about.
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Defender
So what you are saying is that the sewer department will soon be paying money to clean leaves out of the sewer instead of getting the leaves picked up before they get in the sewer. Did you bother to find out which is less costly? If you were in charge, what would you do?
Thanks
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Sito,
What I was saying is that the overtime that it took to collect leaves last Saturday was taken out of the sewer departments funds.
That because citizens put their leaves out on the curb, they get into the sewers, so that is how the City got away with paying the cost from sewer department. Because sanitation picks up leaves. Why do I feel I am banging my head trying to explain this?
Was my last post. #2 that hard to understand?
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Defender
You probably will have to continue to beat your head when posting to Sito.
He tries to pick any post apart and attack that person if he feels you are being negative in any way towards Grace.
Sito
I believe more than one e-mail went out explaining your short leash.
And you talking about people using inappropriate language, you mean like what got you booted from this site previously?
You are a very demeaning person Sito.
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I understood your post.
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If anyone has traveled East Ave right where Gregory Trucking is repairing the road there is a house that always has trash scattered on the curb lawn. It looks horrible and I can’t understand why the city does not step in and make them it up but maybe with the bins that will not happen.
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Isn,t this part of the pay as you throw which has already started in the township. Price of the bin are by size and how many. Many people wondered how the new trucks were going to pick up the bins on the streets that have parking on both sides . Water rate have went up and now so will sanitation. Which if you notice the mention of the Pay as you Throw program was dropped for a while . Since the City was trying for more money
Did we ever get any money back from Grace that he used when he was trying to get the High School down town .?
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“Did we ever get any money back from Grace that he used when he was trying to get the High School down town .?”
You mean the Downtown High School-across from the new Water-park- on one of Elyria’s busiest intersections plan?
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I like the plan. We have lived in three communities that used the system, and it worked quite well. Why pay additional manpower (and taxes for the manpower) if there is a good alternative. Plus, the rolling trash receptacles are easy to wheel around. ANYTHING THAT SAVES MONEY WITH THE SAME SERVICE LEVEL IS A GOOD THING.
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The money wont be saved , it will just be wasted somewhere else , at our expense . Ideas like this should be voted on by the people who have to use it . Not through the elections board to cost thousands of dollars , but online or a ballot that comes with your water bill , then let the citizens choose what they want , instead of the goverment ramming it down your throat. In fact more city decisions should be made this way .
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I completely agree w/you, Sitting Bull. Why not let those people paying for and utilizing the service vote on it instead of making the decision for us?
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So now there is a solution to save money that will force citizens to pay more.
Sounds like payback to us for not approving the tax increase.
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