Council approves five-year Emery County sanitation contract rates and fine schedule for garbage-can violations

Castle Dale City Council unanimously approved a proposed five-year fee schedule for the city's Emery County Sanitation contract and adopted a proposed fine schedule to enforce the city's garbage-can rules.

City staff explained the multi-year rate proposal contains small year-over-year increases supplied by Emery County Sanitation; to simplify billing staff averaged the first three years into a single rate for the billing system and similarly averaged years four and five. The contract also includes customer concessions: persons over age 80 would receive free garbage collection and qualifying veterans and first responders would receive a $2-per-can discount. Staff told the council the sanitation vendor will supply the names of customers who qualify for the discount.

The council also adopted a proposed fine schedule for violations of the garbage-can ordinance. Under the proposed schedule the initial infraction would result in a written door-hanger warning (no immediate fine); the second and third violations would carry $15 fines each; subsequent violations would carry a $50 fine per offense. For improper items placed in city-provided cans (for example hazardous materials), the city proposed a $150 fine plus recovery of cleanup costs to city property, contractor property or the county landfill.

Councilmembers voted to approve the sanitation fee schedule and the fine schedule by unanimous voice vote. The adopted schedules will be implemented under the terms of the new five-year contract with Emery County Sanitation and by the city's code-enforcement procedures.