SANTA PAULA : City Council to Hold Trash Fee Hearing

Citing the need to meet state goals for reducing solid waste, the Santa Paula City Council will hold a hearing tonight on a plan that would force residents to pay for trash removal.

The proposed refuse ordinance would also require households to participate in a curbside recycling program.

Until now, Santa Paula has been one of the few cities in California where residents have the option of subscribing to a rubbish service or disposing of trash on their own, said Norm Wilkinson, the city’s public works director.

Officials suspect that as many as 1,000 residents simply use a neighbor’s trash receptacle for their own rubbish, with or without sharing the $18 monthly fee.

“The result is that two houses are getting the service for half-price,” Wilkinson said.

Besides the loss of revenue, the system has also resulted in extra work for haulers, who must pick up extra containers at residences where more than one family disposes of their trash, he said.

Prompting the overhaul of the city’s ordinance is the approaching deadline for cities to meet state-mandated goals to divert 25% of their solid waste by 1995 and half of the waste by 2000. Cities that fail to meet the goal are liable for fines up to $10,000 a day, Wilkinson said.

While cities that fall short of the goal are unlikely to face severe penalties if they’ve made a good-faith effort, “a city that doesn’t make the effort will be in trouble,” Wilkinson said.

“Refuse collection is no longer just a service, but an environmental tool that is being used for a lot of purposes,” he said.