AUBURN — Cutting back recycling collections hasn't kept people from recycling, according to city officials.
"We've had a few phone calls critical of reduced convenience," said Bob Belz, Auburn public works director. "But according to the operators on our routes, most people who were recycling still are."
The city went from collecting recycling curbside throughout the city once each week to twice per month in spring as a budget-saving measure. Belz said the change looks to save the city $68,000 in the current budget.
Belz said the city currently collects recycling at about 30 percent of the eligible properties — about 1,860 stops in all.
"We believe that most of our users are continuing," Belz said.
But Belz said the amount of materials recycled is down 15 percent this year compared to the same time in 2009.
"It's just a month's worth of data, so I don't think it should be taken too literally," Belz said. "It's not a significant reduction, especially when you take the down economy into consideration."
The current schedule is expected to be temporary. The city's contract with Pine Tree Waste to collect trash is scheduled to expire in June 2011. Mayor Dick Gleason said the city hopes to settle a new contract by November of this year.
"We need to have that figured out so we can put those numbers into the next year's budget," Gleason said.
Dom Casavant, chairman of a city task force assembled to review solid waste collection and recycling programs, said the group hopes to begin taking bids and proposals from waste haulers and recyclers later in September.
But the group won't settle on a single trash hauling or recycling scheme.
"We plan to take proposals from everyone, from companies that do both to those that focus on one or the other," he said. Casavant said proposals could include offering single-stream recycling — with all paper, glass, metal and plastic recycling all dumped in a single bin — or continuing to offer a system like the current curbside-sort recycling.
"We could even go to a dual-sort, where people put their fiber-based recycling, like paper or cardboard, in one bin and plastic, metal and glass in a second one," he said. "We'll look at other options, too.
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Huh ??
Last spring when this new system was announced the LSJ quoted the city has saying only 20-24% of people recycled and a savings plan was needed. Now it says 30% do. What is the real number? I, for one, find the two week pickup plan to be difficult and wind up recycling a little less as a result. And with a 3 week delay, like this month was, it become almost impossible to recycle everything. The city then states that recycling is down 15% (gee, could my above reasons effect others?) but that THAT number is meaningless. So c'mon Auburn, just what numbers ARE real and meaningful.
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As Aho dishes out more than a half a million dollars worth of raises to the school dept, and takes a raise for himself, the council sits silently as Aho tells us he will not be plowing snow from 11 pm to 3 am.
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Once again, it's the Auburn taxpayers that suffer by getting services taken away. These Fat Cats making 120,000$ a year,with a city paid car and gas,and getting their sandwiches paid for at the city council meetings ,while the taxpayers or 60% in lewiston/auburn live on or below the poverty level get no spring clean up, fewer street lights, no cop in the schools, less snow plowing. When Aho was negotiating his contract recently the crux of his argument about his pay was that 100,000+ salary is the norm in the industry to get a really qualified person such as he bla, bla, bla. What a bunch of Horse____. Don't make me pee my pants laughing. The cops make a fraction of what Aho's salary package is, and they put their lives on the line every day. How much is that worth in cash Aho ???? Shut the street lights off so the cops can't see?. Not long ago an off duty officer foiled a robbery attempt at the Big Apple. The robber had a knife. Off duty, still protecting this community. He's a hero, and he protects the rich,and poor in this community equally,for very little money. He doesn't get a city car to take home. You won't see Aho arguing,or pleading for a raise for the police officers. If i had my way i'd replace Aho with a calculator, and give his city vehicle to the off duty officer that foiled that robbery attempt.
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So why is the headline not recycling down 15% in first month of new policy? We have been in a down economy for years but the city's new policy is only a month old. Why would you base your facts on driver heresay and not on factual evidence? Mr. Taylor and sj editors should this headline have been: City Officials in Denial Over Recycling Policy or Policy Leads to Garbage from City Officials.
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email [engine327@yahoo.com] for free pick up
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test because sun journal can't figure out how to make blogging easy or convenient.
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