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Ward 6 Ald. Mark Mahoney was just like every other
Lake Area Disposal customer when, on April 30, he opened a letter saying
that he would be slapped with a $20 fee if he left yard-waste bags out
without stickers. “The council’s not too happy and the
mayor’s office knew nothing about it,” Mahoney says.
“That was never part of the discussion.”
The Springfield City Council decided in October that
the city would continue the system of free yard-waste pickup in April and
November but require $1.50 stickers in other months — but the new
ordinance, which went into effect April 1, also states that waste haulers
are required to pick up yard-waste bags set out without stickers but can
directly bill residents $2 per bag after a first offense [see Amanda
Robert, “Less than perfect,” Oct. 25]. Lake Area Disposal expressed an interest in charging
more than $2 for each unstickered bag during last fall’s discussions,
Mahoney says, but the aldermen decided that the agreed-upon fee was
sufficient.
“This was kind of a backdoor attempt to charge
$20 to customers,” Mahoney says. Lake Area spokesman Rick Davis refutes this idea.
Instead, he says, the purpose of the $20 “administrative fee”
was to discourage residents from ever setting out yard-waste bags without
stickers.
“The administrative fee is an incentive for
them to save money by buying the stickers,” Davis says.
“It’s not a money-maker for us.”
Davis says the city doesn’t realize that other
waste haulers charge administrative fees, and Lake Area decided to
incorporate its own as a means of protecting against future billing
problems and improving accounting. Mahoney has already drafted an ordinance, set for
discussion at the May 19 meeting of the public-affairs committee, banning
any extra fees. Earlier this week he met with Lake Area
representatives, who requested that the council hold off on approving the
ordinance until the company can determine whether the fee works. However,
Mahoney says, the majority of the council still opposes any sort of charge
other than the $2 outlined in the new ordinance. “Some people were angered enough that said we
should bid it out or go another route,” Mahoney says.
“It’s an unfortunate start, and hopefully we can work around
it.”
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in May 8-14, 2008.
