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Laguna Hills approves CR&R contract rates and new organics service after Prop 218 hearing
Summary
Following a Proposition 218 majority-protest hearing, Laguna Hills approved new residential and commercial solid-waste rates under a contract with CR&R Inc. that adds organics collection and new trucks to meet state SB 1383 requirements; five written protests were received out of 13,267 mailed notices.
The Laguna Hills City Council approved rate adjustments for residential and commercial solid-waste and recycling services under a new contract with CR&R Incorporated after a Proposition 218 hearing and public discussion. Assistant City Manager Ames described the agreement as required to comply with state organic-waste rules (SB 1383) and said the city mailed notices to 13,267 affected property owners and received five written protests as of 5:00 p.m.
CR&R representatives told the council the bundled service will include one landfill cart, two recycling carts and one organics/green cart for most single-family customers and that additional-cart monthly charges will depend on cart size. A CR&R representative said additional organics carts would be $6.76 per month and the largest extra landfill cart could cost about $8.87 per month, contradicting a resident’s reading that the change would add $25 per month for an extra green bin. "You do receive one trash cart. You have two recycling carts and one organics cart," a CR&R representative said during the hearing.
Residents who spoke raised operational concerns including inconsistent pickup days, oil leaks from older CR&R trucks and multi-family service coordination. CR&R acknowledged historical vehicle leaks and said new vehicles include leak-detection systems and collision-avoidance equipment to reduce spills and service failure. The company also said it works through property managers on multi-family outreach and education.
After hearing public testimony and a city-clerk report that no majority protest exists (5 protests vs. a 6,634-protest threshold), the council approved the rate schedule by roll-call vote. Staff said the new services include two annual community compost giveaways, additional bulky-item opportunities and household-hazardous-waste events as part of the contract.
Council members asked staff and CR&R to continue outreach on cart sizes, pickup scheduling and coordination with street-sweeping to minimize holiday and service conflicts; the council approved the rate adjustments to take effect July 1 consistent with the contract.
