Trash collection hike on table
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Expect your garbage rates to go up after the city council meeting tonight, Thursday, Sept. 20, and expect your service to decrease to once a week. But overall, the city staff says a proposal to change the trash and brush pickups in Port collection hike Aransas will be an improvement for residents.

The idea is to switch everybody in Port Aransas to 95-gallon wheeled trash bins, called "toters," that can be picked up and dumped mechanically.

In his proposal to council members, City Manager Michael Kovacs said the change should hike on table result in a trash fee increase of $4.69 a month, to $25. The 95-gallon "toter" is included in the bill, Kovacs said. However, places that fill more than one 95-gallon trash container a week, and need a second container, must pay the entire $25 for the additional toter and service, he said.

Kovacs said a proposed contract with Allied Waste Services would also mean brush pickup once a week, as well as large and bulky items.

"This price covers the increased tipping fees to the new City of Corpus Christi landfill, the hauling charges to the new landfill, the toters and service, curbside brush collection, and funds for the city to handle anticipated increases in chipping costs at our collection station," Kovacs wrote in his city council briefing.

"When dumping, the (truck) uses an automatic arm and the can's lid only opens as it is being dumped," Kovacs explained. "Trash wind shields protect the dump process and keep trash in the truck. Citizens can throw just about anything in the toters, like small unbagged debris or grass clippings and brush."

Both residences and businesses that use residential-style trash containers would be affected by the change. Businesses that contract for commercial trash pickup would not be affected.