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Council debates hiring and fee changes for Greenway green-waste site
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Summary
Councilors discussed hiring a part-time attendant for the Greenway green-waste site, operational hours, fencing and whether to raise the resident green-waste fee (currently $3/month) to cover fuel and wages; staff was asked to provide exact customer counts and budget details.
Council members and staff devoted significant discussion to operations at the city’s Greenway green-waste site and whether the current fee structure can sustain a part-time attendant.
A committee member summarized the existing fee model: “we're charging the residents $3,” for green-waste disposal, with contractors or commercial users paying $20 a month. Council members said that unmanaged hours and illegal dumping remain a problem and that hiring an attendant who could close gates and monitor drop-offs would reduce misuse. Staff proposed initial attendant hours of roughly 4 hours a day, stating that “20 hours of your part time” was a workable starting schedule to keep the hire part-time and within seasonal limits.
On revenue, staff and members used the city’s customer base to estimate income: earlier in the discussion staff used an illustrative figure of 500 garbage-can customers (about $1,500 monthly at $3 each), and later the council confirmed a more complete count of 620 garbage cans; council asked staff to return with a precise customer count and clarified staff will compute annual and hourly wage feasibility before any fee change. Committee members suggested raising the resident fee (one member suggested $5) to account for higher diesel and wage costs, but no fee change was adopted at the work session.
Operational details under consideration included fencing to control access, posting scheduled hours, combining green-waste attendant duties with ball-field prep to stay within part-time seasonal hour constraints, and whether the green-waste account has available balances to cover startup staffing costs. Council asked staff for a written staffing plan, exact revenue projections and a recommended fee schedule for formal consideration.
Why it matters: The green-waste program affects many residents’ trash service and municipal maintenance costs; staffing and fee decisions affect both the city's budget and resident convenience. Staff will return with detailed counts, budget calculations and proposed operating hours for a future council meeting where any fee or staffing changes would be decided formally.