Public hearing on curbside trash collection Feb. 26


During the February 12 meeting of the Henderson City Council, members voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on February 26 regarding the matter of curbside garbage collection.

According to City Manager Jerry Moss, a decision must be made by the Council by April 1 in order to enact curbside collection by the next fiscal year.

City Council member Ranger Wilkerson asked if a public hearing was necessary before voting on the change.

Henderson Mayor Clem Seifert responded that in making a major change, a hearing was needed. He added that the Council was going to enact curbside garbage collection unless there was some “overwhelming evidence” not to do so.

According to a memorandum from Moss, the switch would represent a savings of $209,937.25 annually for sanitation. For customers, this would amount to $3.12 less per month, depending on the attrition rate of Sanitation Department employees.

No employees would have their jobs eliminated as part of the transition.

In future years, when new sanitation trucks are purchased, collection personnel would become superfluous. A mechanical arm will reach out from the truck, dump the container, and set it back on the ground.

Also according to the memo, only three trucks would need to be purchased in the future rather than six, and those purchases could be delayed for the next five to six years by enacting curbside collection because the oldest trucks in the fleet need not be replaced.

An ordinance would need to be adopted requiring residents to move their containers back from the curb within 24 hours of pickup. An ordinance change would be required for elderly or disabled residents to have their garbage picked up at the back door.

According to Moss, the North Carolina League of Municipalities has indicated that 79.9% of all North Carolina cities collect solid waste at the curb, and 81.2% collect it once per week.