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Council opens second reading on solid-waste ordinance; staff narrows fee increase and public raises concerns about large carts
Summary
On second reading of Ordinance 15-28 the council reviewed staff edits that broadened garbage service language to include commercial customers and halved an added-can pickup fee to $7.50; public commenters expressed concern about cost burdens and the practicality of large 96-gallon carts for elderly residents.
The City Council of the City of Live Oak opened a public hearing at the second and final reading of Ordinance 15-28, which would adjust utility rates and revise the city’s solid-waste collection code.
City staff told the council they provided a red-line version showing two substantive revisions from first reading: an amendment to section 34-30 that changes the fee-schedule caption from “residential garbage collection service” to “residential and commercial garbage collection service,” and a reduction in the fee for an additional-can pickup from $15 to $7.50. Staff said the edits were made in response to questions raised after first reading.
At the public hearing, an unidentified resident urged the council to reconsider increasing costs during a time of high inflation and said placing responsibility for collection cost increases on residents is unfair. The commenter described practical concerns about issuing large 96-gallon carts to elderly residents, including hauling heavy carts to the curb and the potential need for more frequent collection if larger carts are used. The resident also referenced earlier comments from “Miss Owens” and “Miss Williams” who addressed similar concerns.
The transcript shows staff read the revised language into the record and the council opened the public hearing, but the available excerpt does not include a final vote on adoption of the ordinance. The council therefore has recorded the second-reading public hearing and the staff revisions; the outcome (final passage or further action) is not specified in the provided transcript.
If adopted as drafted with the revisions staff described, the ordinance would change the labeling of the fee schedule to include commercial accounts and lower the additional-can pickup fee to $7.50; the fiscal and operational implementation details (for example, the number of carts to be procured and collection frequency adjustments) were not specified in the excerpt.
