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Councilors and downtown businesses raise concerns about proposed compactor siting
Summary
Councilors pressed staff on the proposed trash compactor footprint and said more outreach to downtown business owners and Republic Services is needed before final siting is decided; staff said the city would provide infrastructure only, not purchase the compactor.
Several councilors and a member who identified herself as Gina pressed staff to expand outreach to downtown businesses before finalizing plans for a trash compactor tied to the North Mirror Pond project.
"So I feel like there's some work that needs to be done on the outreach side," Gina said, asking staff to validate whether a compactor is the right solution and whether an alternative commercial-waste approach might address alley trash without the compactor expense.
Staff said the city is coordinating directly with Republic Services and the operations team on siting and truck-turning constraints; staff emphasized the project would fund infrastructure — enclosure, drainage and power — but that Republic Services would provide and operate any compactor if that option is chosen. Staff also said the compactor itself is not currently included in the project's budget.
Councilors asked that the project timeline explicitly show renewed engagement with downtown business stakeholders as part of the fall outreach. Staff agreed to add more visible engagement steps so the next time the item returns to council the record documents the outreach completed.
