Conway increases sanitation fee

CONWAY - The Conway City Council voted Tuesday to raise the city’s sanitation collection fees from $12.90 per month to $17 per month - the first increase in a decade.

In a 6-0 vote, the City Council amended the original proposal, which would have allowed annual automatic increases of 5 percent between 2014 and 2018. The final rate would have been $21.69 per month for weekly trash, recycling, glass and yard-waste pickup as well as limb removal.

The $17 rate will hold for the indefinite future, and City Council members said they will revisit the issue if an increase seems necessary.

“Things do change from time to time,” said Andy Hawkins, Ward 1 councilman.

The fee increase will take effect in September. It’s the first increase since 2003, when the City Council voted to increase the $12.25 monthly rate, set in 2001, to $12.90. The increase to $17 will be the largest since 1997, when fees increased 50 percent, from $6.50 to $9.75.

The department, which isn’t funded by sales taxes or Conway’s general fund, needs millions of dollars to replace old trucks and equipment, to expand its fleet to 10 residential trucks and to expand its building, according to the increase proposal. The fee increase will generate an additional $1.3 million annually for the department, which serves about 26,000 homes.

One resident questioned the need to replace garbage trucks, which Conway Sanitation Department Director Cheryl Harrington said have a 5-year shelf life.

“A fireman would love to see fire trucks traded in every five years,” said James Quinn of Conway. “That ain’t happening. Why are garbage trucks any different?”

Garbage trucks are different, Harrington said. They operate six days a week, three trips a day, and pick up and dump trash using an “abrasive” process.

“You’re talking about almost continuous wear and tear,” Harrington said.

The new rate will be higher than the monthly rates of communities such as Maumelle and Sherwood, which charge$15.50 and $15.72 respectively. But it will remain lower than Little Rock - $22.02 - and Fort Smith - $17.50.

Some cities pay for sanitation collection through the city general fund, such as North Little Rock. Fayetteville uses a pay-as-you-throw system, in which Conway City Council members expressed interest. But Harrington said that isn’t the right program for Conway.

“People think they can live with [a certain size bin] and then they can’t, so they pile it up and trash ends up in the road,” she said.

Janet Crow, a Conway resident who attends City Council meetings often, rushed to the podium after the final vote to express a closing sentiment.

“I just feel compelled to thank you all” for avoiding automatic increases, she said. “I don’t get to say that very much.”