Residents press council on stormwater fees and new city trash contract; administration defends $5 administrative charge

RIVERSIDE, Ohio — At Monday’s Riverside City Council meeting residents and council members pressed city staff for more information about an upcoming stormwater fee and the city’s new residential trash contract with Rumpke, focusing on how fees are calculated, how many accounts will be billed, and what services property owners receive.

Several residents said the proposed stormwater fees would impose unsustainable costs on certain communities. Patricia Centers, a trustee for Overlook Homes, told council her organization faces substantial repair costs already and cannot afford additional stormwater fees; she said Overlook receives few municipal services and asked council for a waiver or a meeting to present financial statements. Tim (Timothy) Gosnell and other residents asked for a clearer explanation of the $5 administrative charge tied to the city-managed trash contract and questioned the city’s estimate of the number of residential accounts the city will serve.

Why it matters: Council is implementing a new vendor-managed trash program and preparing to establish a formal stormwater utility. Both moves change how residents receive service and how costs are allocated. Residents who do not receive certain local services said they are especially concerned about paying new fees.

Key points from public comment and staff responses: - Overlook Homes (Patricia Centers) said its cooperative faces financial stress from aging infrastructure and recent repair bills; Centers asked city staff to meet the membership on Oct. 12 to present financial statements and explore options. City staff accepted the offer of the financial documents for review. - Tim Gosnell presented calculations suggesting the city’s publicly circulated numbers (11,745 housing units) would yield roughly $234,900 annually in administrative fees at $5 per quarter; Gosnell asked why Riverside’s effective equivalent residential unit (ERU) fee appears higher than neighboring Huber Heights. Council and staff responded that the $5 administrative fee is intended to cover personnel, software, bank transaction fees and costs associated with billing and vendor oversight, and that the city’s estimate of billed accounts will be refined (staff estimated between 6,200 and 7,200 residential accounts will receive city trash collection, pending an audit with the hauler). - City staff said the new Rumpke contract is expected to lower per-household collection costs compared with the previous contract and that having the city in the middle of billing allows the city to withhold payment and compel contractor performance, which staff argued is a benefit to residents. Staff also noted they have a written commitment from Republic Services to refund any prepaid services beyond Dec. 31 for customers who prepaid 2026 charges.

What’s next: Staff said they will continue to audit account counts with the hauler to produce a precise number of billed residential accounts and will accept written financial materials from Overlook Homes for review. Council asked staff to follow up with additional details on fee calculations and service differences between Riverside and neighboring jurisdictions.