So many Manlius town residents have been upset — and complaining — about the town board’s August decision to eliminate the opt out option for municipal trash and brush pickup that last week the board reversed the policy.
The board also rejected all the trash and brush hauler bids it had received for the contract under the amended policy, which included all trash and brush district residents, and offered the contracts up for bid again, this time with reduced numbers to take into account potential opt-outs.
“Since the town wide resolution in August, I’ve been reevaluating all the reasons for why we decided to do this,” said Supervisor Ed Theobald at the board’s Oct. 22 meeting. “But at the time it did make sense.”
The town board originally created two trash/brush districts in the town in 2004, which allowed any town residential property owner of a three family or less home — and who does not live inside any of the villages of Fayetteville, Manlius or Minoa — to use municipally-bid removal services of Syracuse Haulers, or to opt out of the municipal service and hire a trash/brush hauler of their own choosing. The 2014 annual charge for trash enrollment is $155, and the charge for brush removal is $30.
The board’s August resolution eliminated the opportunity for residents to opt out of trash and brush pickup, thereby making the trash and brush surcharge mandatory for all district residents, even if they wanted to continue contracting with a private hauler. The intent of the resolution was to save the town money and make trash and brush pickup and payment more fair by removing the burden on residents who pay the fees from carrying people who are receiving free hauling, Theobald said at the time.
Residents who are part of homeowners associations currently under contract with a private hauler were to be allowed to remain under that contract without penalty despite the policy change.
The new policy was to take effect Jan. 1, 2015.
Theobald said he had received numerous telephone calls, emails and personal conversations with residents who were upset by the board’s mandatory fee policy. It was discovered that more residents and home owners’ associations were currently opting out of the trash and brush contract that was previously thought, and many of the HOAs had “very valid reasons” why they were opted out, he said.
During the Oct. 17 weekend, board members were polled via email to see who was in favor of reversing the August policy change.
“In hindsight, we may have acted a little too expeditiously here,” said Councilor Nicholas Marzola.
Councilor Jason Cassalia, who spoke out in opposition of the mandated fee resolution in August, although he did vote for it, said, “This is a great example of people having the chance to change the course of their local government.”
The policy reversal did come with a caveat, however, since the bid announcements for the trash and brush contracts had already gone out and bids had been received — and were supposed to be awarded that night. But the bids were for townwide participation numbers. The reinstitution of the opt out option required a new contract to be written to take into account the number of potential opt-outs, which would directly affect the bid prices.
“Under the circumstances, I think the town must reject the bids and go back out with the amended number of units and opt-outs,” Town Attorney Steve Primo told the board. “I don’t see any other way of doing this.”
The board therefore unanimously approved two resolutions regarding municipal trash and brush pickup for 2015, one amending the previous resolution to return to allowing residents to opt out of municipal trash and brush pickup, the second to reject the trash and brush contract bids and authorize the board to advertise for new bids.
One change to the amended resolution allowing trash and brush pickup opt outs is that once residents select to either participate in or opt out of the program, they will be wedded to that decision for one year — no changes to a resident’s selection will be allowed mid-year, except for new home purchasers, Theobald said. This was done to avoid a “legislative nightmare” of mid-year changes, Marzola said.
For this year, the deadline to choose to opt out of the program is Nov. 1; however, residents who currently opt out of the program will be considered to be opted out again next year unless the town is told otherwise, Theobald said. Next year, the deadline will be Sept. 1, Primo said.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Eagle Bulletin. He can be reached at [email protected] or 434-8889 ext. 335.
