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Downtown restaurants urge pause after town signals end to municipal commercial food-waste pickup
Summary
Public works recommended ending town-provided commercial food-waste pickup downtown because volumes have increased beyond the town's equipment capacity; merchants pushed back, asked for more time and proposed shared dumpsters or town-lot solutions and requested the council delay any change to allow a workable transition.
Town public works staff told the Mayor and Council they recommend discontinuing town-run commercial food-waste collection in the downtown core because restaurants and events have increased volumes beyond the capability of the town's current waste wheelers.
"Downtown has grown. We have more restaurants and customers," Public Works Director Jimmy Charles said, and the department is now making multiple heavy stops and twice-weekly lift runs that staff say are not covered by fees. Staff suggested merchants secure private dumpster services or a shared, privately serviced dumpster in a town lot behind town hall as a transition solution.
Several downtown business owners and a merchants' organizer cautioned the council against an abrupt August 1 cutoff, saying summer is their busiest season and small staffs (often teenage employees) would be forced to move heavy food waste long distances to a remotely located dumpster. Merchant representative Mar Lopez pressed the council for more engagement and practical alternatives: "If we're saying get rid of the receptacles, find a larger dumpster... we're going to have negative results if this is rushed," she said.
Council members and staff asked merchants to confer, test options (larger shared dumpster behind town hall, staggered schedules, cost-sharing) and return with proposals in July so the council can consider a transition that addresses public health, operational efficiency and business impacts.
What's next: Staff and merchants will continue discussions and return to council with a recommended plan in July; no final implementation date was set at the meeting.
