Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Solid Waste topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Glendora council adopts five‑year solid‑waste and recycling maximum rates after heated public hearing
Summary
After a public hearing where mobile‑home residents raised notice and affordability concerns, the Glendora City Council adopted a five‑year maximum rate schedule under Proposition 218 and approved a commercial/multifamily supplemental fee; staff reported 74 valid written protests (0.51%), not a majority, and the council voted 5–0 to adopt.
The Glendora City Council adopted a five‑year maximum rate schedule for solid‑waste and recycling services and approved a phased supplemental fee for commercial and multifamily accounts after a Proposition 218 majority‑protest public hearing.
Management Analyst Stephanie Ryan presented the item and explained that on June 9 the council approved a fifth amendment to the franchise agreement with Athens Services to implement state recycling and organics requirements (SB 1383). As part of that amendment the proposed maximum residential, commercial and multifamily rate schedule would govern rates from July 15, 2026, through July 14, 2031, with a commercial/multifamily supplemental fee of $23.50 annually beginning July 15, 2026.
Residents who spoke during the hearing, particularly tenants and managers of mobile‑home parks, raised two recurring concerns: they had not received the mailed Proposition 218 notices and they feared new costs would be passed on to vulnerable households. "I never received the required Proposition 218 notice even though these increases directly affect me," said Stephanie Noel, who identified herself as a Rancho Glendora Mobile Villas homeowner. Multiple speakers said property managers or master accounts, rather than individual owners, often receive franchise notices for mobile‑home parks, which complicates resident notification and protest rights.
City staff reported the city mailed 14,522 notices to parcel owners using the latest LA County tax roll and recorded 225 returned items. Athens Services’ representative Jonathan Hughes said the vendor typically bills a mobile‑home park as a single account (a master bill) and that the new requirement for a recycling container would commonly add a $27.56 monthly cost per account that property managers typically split among tenants. He described steps Athens will take to continue outreach and to meet directly with property managers and residents to resolve site‑specific issues.
After public testimony closed, staff announced the tabulation of written protests: 74 valid protests were received (0.51% by the method reported), which the city clerk stated did not constitute a majority protest under Prop 218. Councilmember Alawas moved to adopt the resolution approving the rate schedule and the supplemental fee; Councilmember Thompson seconded. The council voted unanimously, 5–0, to adopt the proposed rates and associated resolution.
What happens next: The adopted five‑year schedule becomes the maximum allowed for the period noted; annual adjustments still may occur according to the contract formula (trash CPI + 1%). Staff and Athens committed to follow up with mobile‑home parks, property managers and residents about outreach, bin deployments, contamination enforcement (Athens said it uses warning tags and photographic documentation before fines), and senior‑discount applications.
