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Fruita adopts ordinance to manage commercial trash pickups, will bill businesses directly
Summary
Council approved Ordinance 2026-07 authorizing the city to establish and manage city-designated solid waste collection locations for affected businesses; staff said the city will pay the servicer and invoice businesses based on measured usage, with existing collection-enforcement tools available for delinquencies.
The Fruita City Council on June 16 adopted Ordinance 2026-07 to amend municipal code and allow the city to establish and manage city-designated solid-waste collection locations for businesses, part of an alley-improvement project that relocated dumpsters.
“Right now... we will actually bill each business individually based on their what their impact is in that location,” Special Project Manager Steve Martinez said, explaining that the city will pay the trash servicer and then invoice businesses by measured use. He said the city is tracking six months of prior commercial bills to create averages for city billing and that current compactor service runs about $350 a month.
Council members pressed staff on enforcement if businesses fail to pay. Finance staff explained the city treats the commercial trash charge like other utilities: unpaid balances may be collected through standard utility delinquency measures, including lock-off of water service for accounts three months past due, or by placing liens on property as a last resort.
Staff said they will continue to track costs and revenues in a designated code to assure cost recovery and will provide periodic reassessments so charges reflect actual use. Council voted 6-0 to adopt the ordinance.
