Rehoboth commissioners to vote on trash, recycling changes
After months of discussion, Rehoboth Beach commissioners are set to vote on a handful of operational and legislative changes regarding residential trash, recycling and yard waste collection.
During a Nov. 8 workshop, Mayor Stan Mills said he would like a formal decision on the issue made during the commissioners meeting Friday, Nov. 15.
Operational changes include moving the annual end date for twice-a-week pickup of refuse from Nov. 30 to Oct. 31; moving free bulk pickup from the last week of April/first week of May to the first two weeks of April; moving yard waste container and bag collection from first, third, and fifth Wednesdays to every other Wednesday; reorganizing loose-leaf pickup from Monday through Friday to Thursdays for the south side of Rehoboth and Fridays for the north side; and updating the fee for a yard waste container to the going rate – $35 to $70.
Code amendments include removing the words metal and suitable handles from the definition of waste container; removing wording that allows placement of trash bags the morning of trash pickup; revising the period for the collection of loose leaves and pine needles from Oct. 1-May 14 to Nov. 1-May 14; and establishing quarterly billing for residential collection and the due date for such quarterly bills.
Public Works Director Kevin Williams said these changes are not about saving the city money. The changes are about creating efficiencies so city staff can get more work done, he said.
City Manager Sharon Lynn said there’s a mad dash every year to get things ready for the summer season. Ideally, these changes would allow staff to start working on those projects earlier, she said.
Not all the commissioners are convinced the operational changes are needed. Commissioner Toni Sharp said she has not come across one constituent who thinks the proposed changes are a good idea. What she’s heard, she said, is that the proposed changes are insensitive to the needs of residents.
Multiple commissioners mentioned there should be a special pickup scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving if twice-a-week pickup is stopped at the end of October.
Not to be voted on during the Nov. 15 meeting is the proposed mandatory fee for recycling. For years, the city has offered residential recycling for free. In April, the city signed a new residential recycling contract with Blue Hen Disposal. There was an 88 percent increase in the contract, done almost entirely, said Blue Hen, in anticipation of the Delaware Solid Waste Authority starting in July to charge recycling haulers when contamination rates exceed 15 percent of a load. In response, city staff recommended charging all residential customers $135 a year for recycling. The necessity of the fee has drawn questions from commissioners and homeowners.
During the workshop, Lynn said that proposal has been pulled out of the current package of changes and will continue to be discussed in the future.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. Additionally, Flood moonlights as the company’s circulation manager, which primarily means fixing boxes that are jammed with coins during daylight hours, but sometimes means delivering papers in the middle of the night. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
