Castle Dale council holds public hearing on use-and-care rules for city garbage cans

Castle Dale City Council members heard more than an hour of public comment on an ordinance to regulate the placement and permitted contents of city-provided garbage cans, then closed the public hearing and agreed to put the proposed ordinance on next month’s agenda for a formal vote.

The ordinance presented by Councilmember Bradley Giles would require city-provided cans to be placed at the curb no earlier than 24 hours before the scheduled Thursday pickup and removed within 24 hours after pickup. Giles also read a list of ten items the ordinance would prohibit from city cans, including used tires, lead-acid batteries, oils and grease, hazardous materials, unused pesticides, flammable liquids, explosives or oxidizers, hot ashes, bulky materials that would cause a can to exceed 500 pounds, and appliances or equipment containing refrigerants.

The measure’s stated aims are to reduce windblown litter, prevent obstruction of storm drains and limit contamination of municipal waste containers. Councilmember Giles told the council, “They should only come out 24 hours before Thursday and be off the street 24 hours after Thursday.” Residents in the public hearing answered questions about pickup timing, enforcement and practical habits; several said they place cans out Wednesday mornings because pickup crews arrive early.

During the hearing residents raised enforcement concerns — how the city would determine when a can was placed at the curb and whether penalties would be fairly applied — and asked for flexibility for people who are out of town. Councilmembers discussed changing the “24 hours before/24 hours after” formulation to a 12/12 or 24-hour total window to reduce confusion for residents who put cans out the night before pickup.

After public comment, the council voted to close the hearing. A later motion to accept “Ordinance 04-10-25, use and care of city-provided garbage cans” was made during the meeting but council members discovered that the ordinance was listed as a public hearing item, not an action item, on the published agenda. The council agreed not to adopt the ordinance at that time and to place it as an action item on next month’s agenda for formal consideration.

No fines or enforcement schedule tied directly to this ordinance were adopted at this meeting; the council deferred the decision to allow ordinance language and the agenda classification to be corrected.

The council did, separately in the same meeting, review a proposed fine schedule for violations that would pair with the garbage-can rules (see related article on adopted sanitation fee schedule and proposed fines). The council closed the hearing and moved the garbage-can ordinance to the next meeting for formal action.