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Stoner Utilities Authority reviews downtown shared-dumpster plan to reduce litter and increase pickups
Summary
Waste Management presented a plan to replace many small dumpsters in the downtown corridor (Sixth–Tenth Avenues, Husband to Lewis) with labeled, shared 2-yard containers serviced three times weekly for low-volume customers; a single monthly fee and mapped service area will return later for formal consideration.
On Aug. 18, 2025, the Stoner Utilities Authority heard a presentation from Matt Faulkner, waste management director, on a proposed downtown dumpster-improvement plan covering the alley corridor between Sixth and Tenth avenues from Husband Street to Lewis Avenue.
Faulkner said the plan responds to customer confusion over dumpster assignments, congestion in narrow alleys and the limits of once‑a‑week service for many dumpsters. “These dumpsters will be labeled and usable by all low volume customers,” Faulkner said, describing containers that would resemble residential carts (blue bodies with yellow, lockable lids and a slotted top for cardboard).
The plan targets low‑volume customers — defined from observational and billing data — and would combine shared users into labeled downtown dumpsters. Faulkner said the proposal would remove 51 current low‑volume dumpsters and replace them with 30 shared containers, increase collection frequency for those containers to three times per week and raise the weekly cubic yards collected for that group from about 134 cubic yards to about 180 cubic yards.
Faulkner gave specific counts for the corridor: 118 customers paying for service, 71 dumpsters currently in alleys targeted by the plan, 292 cubic yards of waste collected weekly in total, and 18 cardboard dumpsters. He said 105 customers fall in the low‑volume classification and use 51 of the dumpsters; of those 51, 35 dumpsters are currently serviced once a week, 14 twice a week and two three times a week (the two are shared by six customers). By contrast, 13 high‑volume customers use 20 dumpsters and account for about 158 cubic yards a week; Faulkner said those higher‑volume accounts are excluded from the shared‑dumpster proposal.
Faulkner described operational features intended to address litter and illegal dumping: locked lids that prevent full‑top access, continued cleanup by waste management staff before and after service, and more frequent pickups to reduce overflow and scattering by wind or ‘‘dumpster divers.’’ He said staff have held two meetings with the Downtown Merchants Association and can provide a full alley‑by‑alley presentation on request.
On rates, Faulkner said a single monthly fee would be proposed for the low‑volume classification but will be brought back for formal action in a later, comprehensive waste‑management fee package. He said the sample rates shown were built from a rate package prepared by NewGen Strategies and represented roughly a break‑even point for projected revenue. He also said decisions about classifying a new business as low‑ or high‑volume would be made through coordination with utilities and billing staff when a business requests service.
Trustees asked about alternatives such as front‑load dumpsters and walking distance to the new shared containers. Faulkner said front‑load service would be difficult or impossible in the corridor and that the shared dumpsters would be distributed so that customers would not have to walk substantially farther than they do now.
No formal action was taken on the plan during the Aug. 18 meeting. Faulkner and trustees indicated staff will return with mapping, a proposed fee package as part of a later rate ordinance or fee schedule, and implementation details for coordination with billing and utilities.
The discussion concluded with trustees thanking staff for the analysis and asking that staff continue to monitor volumes and adjust dumpster placement as businesses open or close in the corridor.
