St. Marys council hears public concern as solid-waste committee recommends $20 monthly residential rate
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Residents pressed council over recent solid-waste shortfalls and alternatives such as pay-per-bag systems; the solid-waste committee recommended a $20 monthly resident rate, a $3.50 extra-cart fee, a $20 senior rate, $31 for nonresidents and a 225% commercial increase, with rates held through 2027 for reevaluation.
Residents and council members clashed over the city’s approach to trash collection and recent shortfalls during the St. Marys City Council meeting. Resident Sterling Steinburner asked why the city operates its own solid-waste system and compared city service to nearby pay-per-bag systems, saying, “Can you tell me, why the city operates its own system?” He also cited Celina’s pay-per-bag approach, saying it charges “$1.20 a bag.”
In response, a council member outlined the city’s history of operating refuse as a municipal enterprise, tracing the change to the early 1980s after earlier private collection problems and a later litigation settlement that once left the landfill enterprise fund healthy. That speaker said the shift to municipal service makes local problem-solving easier and noted recent capital purchases and lost tag-sale revenue contributed to the fund’s decline: “We usually generated about $250,000 a year in the sale of our tags,” the speaker said.
During public comment and council discussion, residents expressed concern about the cost impact on seniors and fixed-income households. One commenter urged caution and blamed prior administration decisions for leaving the current council to address the shortfall. The transcript records that council members discussed a possible senior discount but described logistical and administrative challenges, including verifying eligibility and handling household changes.
Solid-waste committee chair Mister Gillette presented the committee’s formal recommendation: a resident monthly rate of $20, an extra-cart fee of $3.50, a senior resident rate of $20 for those 65 and older, a nonresident rate of $31 per month, and commercial-rate increases of 225% to align rates with inflation since 1999. Gillette said the committee recommends holding those rates through the remainder of 2026 and the calendar year 2027 to collect updated data and reevaluate at the end of 2027. The committee also recommended leasing a rear-loader truck over the next three years as part of the plan to return the enterprise fund to a positive balance.
Council members raised questions about how a senior discount would be administered and how much revenue the discount would forfeit. One council member noted consultants had cautioned against a senior rate because it is difficult to administer and would reduce fund revenue.
Next steps: the committee’s recommendation will be drafted into formal ordinance language by the office for future readings and possible adoption; the transcript records continued discussion but no formal final vote on the rates at this meeting.