Concerns about the time frame on requiring larger apartment complexes in Little Rock to offer recycling to their tenants led the city Board of Directors on Tuesday to delay the proposed July 1 start date to Jan. 1.
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola has proposed an ordinance to go before the board at its regular meeting Tuesday that would require the recycling program. The legislation encourages smaller complexes to follow suit.
Stodola and some city directors said during Tuesday’s agenda meeting that they had heard hesitation from apartment managers about the requirement beginning only four months after the mayor announced his proposal last week.
“I would have no objection to an extension of that date for complexes to comply,” Stodola said during board discussion.
By a unanimous voice vote Tuesday, the eight directors present favored of a motion by City Director Joan Adcock to delay the start date. Directors Erma Hendrix and Ken Richardson were absent.
Stodola said the board could “go ahead and make the change now” so that the new date would be in the ordinance for next week’s board discussion and public comment, instead of waiting to amend the ordinance next week.
The extension, however, creates another problem. Pulaski County’s five drop-off recycling sites that are mainly used by apartment residents who don’t have recycling collection are scheduled to close June 30. The ordinance’s original July 1 date would have coincided with those closures. The drop-off sites are in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Sherwood.
The drop-off sites were supposed to close June 30 last year because their funding ended, but the Regional Recycling and Waste Reduction District found funding to keep the sites open until Dec. 28, then extended it to June 30 to give mayors time to plan for the closures.
Stodola said after Tuesday’s meeting that “hopefully” funding can be available again to keep those drop-off sites open until the end of the year. He said the drop-off sites will need to be discussed at next week’s city board meeting. He added, however, that funds for the drop-off centers also involve North Little Rock and Sherwood, which have drop-off sites included in the district funding.
The district’s board of directors consists of the mayors of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Maumelle and Jacksonville and the county judge.
Stodola told city directors Tuesday that there are about 100 apartment complexes in Little Rock that have 100 or more units and that would be required to begin offering recycling by Jan. 1, if the ordinance is approved. He added that the complexes’ costs would be minimal, but the cost will depend on the agreements between the apartment complexes and the hauling company that each uses.
Assistant Public Works Director Ronnie Lowe told the board that the ordinance’s mandate to apartment owners and managers “requires you to recycle, but does not tell you how to recycle.”
“Apartment complexes will negotiate with their hauler and figure out what is the best way to service their apartment complex,” Lowe said. He added that complexes would likely save money because of having less trash to be collected, plus provide “an environmental benefit” to the city.
Stodola said that in his discussions with haulers he has found the companies to be “ready, willing and able to provide services” to the apartment complexes.
A letter from the Little Rock Realtors Association supporting the proposed ordinance was attached to the board’s packet Tuesday. It mentioned the association’s previous opposition to an earlier draft that had included smaller complexes. Also Tuesday, Stodola mentioned a comment printed in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last week by Ron Goss, president of Rector Phillips Morse Inc., that apartment complex costs to offer recycling would “probably be a wash.” The company manages about 3,500 apartment units in the city.
Though smaller complexes won’t be required to offer recycling, Stodola said he has heard from managers at smaller complexes who look forward to offering recycling opportunities to their tenants.
“I’m encouraged that there is a do-right attitude from these apartment managers, who are the ones who hear from their tenants,” Stodola said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/26/2014