Committee recommends moving city refuse-collection start to 5 a.m.; staff to take ordinance changes to council

Public works staff asked the Delaware City Public Works/Public Utilities Committee on Feb. 4, 2025, to recommend to council changes to the city’s refuse code to allow collection crews to begin on main corridors as early as 5 a.m., and to add an exemption for necessary infrastructure maintenance and public services to the city’s recently adopted noise ordinance.

Staff said the code change is intended to let large refuse trucks operate on Central Avenue, William Street and other main corridors before morning rush-hour traffic. The department provided traffic-count information showing heavy traffic beginning around 7 a.m. and described upcoming maintenance-of-traffic changes near The Point that will reduce access on Central Avenue during construction. Staff said earlier collection would keep trucks from impeding peak traffic and would improve operator safety.

The staff presentation noted that similar commercial collection in the region sometimes occurs as early as 4 a.m. and that the city’s existing noise ordinance, adopted recently to address business noise, unintentionally prohibits necessary municipal operations such as nighttime plowing, street sweeping and certain paving or utility work. City Attorney Harris and staff recommended adding a specific exemption for “necessary activities associated with construction, maintenance and repair of infrastructure and for provision of public services to the community” so crews can legally continue needed after-hours or early-morning work.

Operations Manager Shane Harding (named in the packet) and other staff said the change would be limited to main corridors and not be used to start neighborhood pickups at 5 a.m.; neighborhoods would remain on their regular schedule. Staff said routes would be adjusted so trucks are on corridors early and then move to regular routes later in the morning. Staff also described a written notice plan: residents on affected routes would be sent written notice asking them to place containers at the curb by 5 a.m.; staff said most residents already place containers out the night before.

Committee discussion touched on communication with schools and parents, and whether bus schedules would be affected; staff said the change would not require adjusting school bus schedules. Committee members asked about enforcement and about decibel testing; staff said the city will test equipment to have measured decibel levels on record if needed. One committee member suggested phrasing and public messaging to emphasize that putting cans out the night before remains the practical approach.

Motion and vote: A committee member moved and another seconded a recommendation that the city advance both the refuse-code change and the noise-ordinance exemption to city council in ordinance form. Roll call votes were recorded as yes for Mr. Hoffman, Ms. Fraser and Mayor Bridal; the motion carried.

Staff will prepare ordinance language for council consideration and said the noise-ordinance exemption and refuse-code change would be presented to council as ordinances for readings and potential adoption.