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Aldermen were mostly silent Monday as landlords,
presidents of neighborhood associations, and concerned residents took the
podium to offer solutions to Springfield’s garbage problem during the
city’s second of two waste-subcommittee hearings. The new panel, chaired by Ward 6 Ald. Mark Mahoney,
first met in June to discuss the trash issue and heard from several
Springfield officials and area waste haulers. This week’s meeting
gave the floor to the people.
Owen Anderson, president of the Springfield Area
Landlord Association, first suggested that the city bid Springfield’s
entire waste removal to one waste hauler. Anderson said while this move
would ensure lower costs to citizens, save wear and tear on streets, and
cut fuel expenditures, he didn’t see it a feasible option for
Springfield. “Unfortunately, this idea seems to be
politically impossible and has delayed action on implementing a
comprehensive garbage pickup plan for almost six years,” Anderson
said.
Anderson said a better possibility may be to retain
the current system using several private waste haulers, but place the
billing on a centralized billing system — such as the City Water,
Light and Power invoices — to ensure full compliance. Steve Combs, president of the Enos Park Neighborhood
Improvement Association, told the panel that the entire situation was
“mind-boggling” and that the city should be responsible for
picking up garbage. “I was a bit concerned at the last meeting that
I heard so much about the haulers,” said Combs. “They should
not be the No. 1 priority here — the No. 1 priority should be the
citizens of Springfield.”
Polly Poskin of the Harvard Park Neighborhood
Association called on the city to require full compliance with residential
garbage pick-up, even if it means bidding the service to one or two waste
haulers. She offered other solutions such as eliminating yard waste
stickers and designating scheduled days for limb pick-up and allowing for
the routine removal of bulky items at least once a month.
Like Anderson and Combs, Poskin touched on the
politics of the trash issue and suggested that the city move efforts along
by tackling a few major items. “I think we have to prioritize,” said
Poskin, “because I know that garbage pick-up is such a political
issue that the city doesn’t seem to quite know how to get its arms
around, and if we could get a handle on yard waste pick-up and bulky item
removal it would go a long way.”
After hearing residents’ comments and
suggestions Monday, Mahoney said the waste subcommittee will take the next
few weeks to consider statements from each of the trash hearings and will
begin to look at possible solutions.
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2007.
