Florissant Council Candidates Respond to Your Questions About Trash Haulers

Would you be in favor of letting residents choose their own trash hauler again?

Mark Behlmann, Ward 3: I believe in the philosophy of purchasing at wholesale prices. In many cases, this requires bulk purchasing. I'm not opposed to holding open meetings for the community to come together and learn how to achieve the best purchasing power for all that are concerned. If there is a benefit for a resident to have individual trash hauling service, I am very open to learning and understanding those effects. But as with any benefit those who are directly affected must be given the opportunity to see both sides thoroughly in order to make a wise decision.

Joe Eagan, Ward 3: Not answered

Elizabeth O’Fallon, Ward 3: I am in favor of allowing residents to choose their own trash hauler. My family has experienced some problems with our trash pickup and despite repeated phone calls and complaints, nothing was done to remedy the problem. Going door-to-door, I have heard several similar complaints from residents. I believe competition not only reduces costs but helps maintain quality of service.

Steve Purgahn, Ward 6: Recently, St Louis County established new ordinances requiring all of St Louis County to abide by their Solid Waste Ordinance. That ordinance requires communities to either contract to provide the service themselves or join the St Louis County contracting pool. Florissant has chosen the option to contract for the services.

Pat Stinnett, Ward 6: The citizens of Ward 6 are satisfied with the savings and convenience of awarding a bid to one hauler. They do not want to go back to multiple haulers on multiple days tearing up our streets.

http://florissant.patch.com/articles/reviewing-choices-council-candidates-respond-to-your-questions

Florissant Man Told To Remove “Jesus” Sign From His Yard

FLORISSANT, Mo. (KMOX) - A north St. Louis County man says he can’t believe what he found in his mailbox — a letter from his subdivision committee telling him he had to take down his yard sign.

The simple green sign has a single word written in white…”Jesus”.

“What is this? What kind of country are we living in?,” Michael Mayfield asks increduously.  Mayfield lives in unincorporated Florissant, in a subdivision called Weatherby Place off Shackleford.

He says as a Christian, he proudly placed the familiar green-and-white sign in his yard as a declaration of his faith.

“And they told me I had to remove it,” Mayfield tells KMOX News. “I mean it just shocked me to no end to even read a letter like this. It spelled out ‘Jesus’, and that really captured my attention that they would go as far as to spell out the name ‘Jesus’.”

Mayfield says his sign isn’t going anywhere; in fact, he’s still deciding whether to put up more Jesus signs in his front yard.

No response yet from the subdivision’s operators, D & I Properties.

Florissant Recycling Center to Stay Open . . . For Now.

Florissant officials say an upsurge in curbside recycling may force the city to close their recycling center at St. Ferdinand Park. For the time being, the center will remain open.

St. Louis County's solid waste management code now mandates that trash haulers offer single-stream recycling in their basic trash service, although the code is being challenged in court.

Meridian Waste Services became Florissant's lone waste hauler and began offering single-stream recycling, the amount of recyclable waste at the center has dropped.

"It's down at least 50 percent," said Louis Jearls, public works director for Florissant. Jearls said the city received a grant from St. Louis County to maintain the center, which is open to city and county residents, for the next year.

Meanwhile, Charles Barcom, co-owner of Meridian, said the amount of recyclable material his company has collected rose from 82 tons in April to 105 tons in May. He thinks it will be 120 tons in July.

Barcom said tonnage most likely will increase when more residents receive their bins. The city obtained several grants that will pay for about 12,000 bins needed. About 6,000 bins have been distributed, and the city recently opened bids for another 5,000 or more bins, funded by another grant.

While Florissant is purchasing bins, St. Louis County is throwing them away. This doesn't make sense.

See other articles posted at this site.

Florissant To Vote On Trash Services

Florissant will be voting on trash service for the city and their smart choice is Meridian. The City Council will be voting at their meeting set for December 8.

The cost of trash service will be $13.78 per month, which includes the trash tote. Senior citizens will receive a 50% discount, which amounts to $6.89 per month, which is an excellent deal. There will also be a transition period and Meridian will provide a full time employee to be in residence at City Hall during the transition period.

Florissant Proposed Trash Contract Meets Mixed Reception

The rates proposed by a single waste hauler to provide trash collection in Florissant drew both support and skepticism from seniors who packed a public meeting recently. Meridian Waste Services was the low bidder among five licensed waste haulers who submitted bids to the city for a three-year contract.

Mayor, Robert Lowery, had insisted that the bids include a 50 percent discount for seniors 60 and older.

A number of residents at the meeting, however, questioned whether the new rates would be cheaper than the city's garbage tag program for seniors.Seniors have the option of purchasing tags to place on individual garbage bags, rather than paying a monthly rate. Seniors who choose the tag option pay $20 and receive 20 to 30 tags, depending on the hauler they use.

Proposed trash rates in Florissant:- The cost would be $11.85 a month ($5.92 for seniors) during the first year of the contract, with an increase to $12.26 the second year and $12.69 the third.- Weekly yard waste pickup would be $8.15 per month ($4.70 for seniors). Additional bulk waste, household waste and yard waste pickup would be $15 per pickup ($7.50 for seniors). Major appliance pickup would be $20 per item ($10 for seniors). Christmas tree pickup would be $5 per tree ($2.50 for seniors). Rental of a 64- or 96-gallon container would be $3 per month ($1.50 for seniors).

Florissant Considering Seeking Bids for Single Trash Hauler

Florissant plans to explore designating one waste hauler to provide trash removal and recycling services throughout the city.

While the city is seeking bids, St. Louis County government officials will not require present haulers serving Florissant to charge residents for picking up recyclable materials until Oct. 1. All of this is part of the city's response to the implementation of the county's new solid waste management code. The code reorganizes how solid waste and landfills will be managed in the county.

One of its controversial measures is requiring customers to pay for recycling services whether they want them or not. Haulers now are required to offer recycling as part of their service. Cities also are having to adapt to the plan. Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery Sr. told the City Council on June 9 that the city plans to put a hauling contract for the entire city up for bids. Now, the city has six or more companies providing services, said Public Works Director Louis Jearls.

Jearls said that specifications have been drafted seeking bids from private haulers, but the city hasn't established a time line for naming a hauler. The reason for issuing a bid proposal is economic. Jearls and Lowery say they hope to see rate proposals that will be lower than what residents pay now.

Bids received from haulers for some of the county's trash districts were cheaper than expected, Lowery said. Bid specifications could include a requirement for a 50 percent discount for senior citizens, he said.

Jearls said the city also hopes to obtain thousands of unused recycling containers from the county. Using those containers might further cut costs, he said.

Florissant Looking For Improved Trash System

According to Mayor Robert Lowery, the city is thinking about having a single trash hauler provide services to the City of Florissant if a majority of residents support the idea.

Lowery said he will involve the public heavily before the city decides the issue. He said their approach would be "entirely different" than St. Louis County's, which continues to alienate many citizens within the county.

Lowery said they will soon ask haulers what they would charge in an effort to save residents money.

IESI submitted a bid to a county's assigned trash district and was the low bidder at $12.09 per month for once-per-week pickup of trash and recyclables. Interestingly enough, IESI is charging more than $22 per month to residents in other areas of the county. One resident commented, "Something is rotten in Denmark."

Current hauler prices in Florissant vary. For example, the monthly charge of Meridian Waste Services is $18.75 for once-a-week trash collection and once-a-week recycling pickup.

North County Residents Upset In Paying for Recycling They Do Not Want

Many residents in North St. Louis County are upset that waste haulers may impose a fee for recycling services when they already recycle for Free.

Nancy Drury 87, of Florissant, has been dropping off plastic bottles, newspapers and other items at the city's recycling center "since it opened." She doesn't have to be sold on the environmental benefits. She does, however, have to be sold on being charged for it by her trash hauler, Meridian Waste.

"I'm really mad, and I'll tell you why," Drury said after dropping off a load of recyclables at Florissant's recycling center, adjacent to St. Ferdinand Park. "My bill went from $69 to $84."

Drury is among a number of people who recently found something new on their trash bills - a charge for recycling. And like Drury, many aren't happy about it. The surcharge stems from St. Louis County's new solid waste management code, which requires a minimum level of trash service throughout the county.

Haulers are now required to not only offer recycling services but to bill for it as part of their contract even if citizens already recycle under a different program or method. Although county officials stress that recycling is voluntary, charging for it isn't.

District 4 County Councilman Mike O'Mara, who was council president when the new code was adopted, said it was a tough decision that the County Council had to make. But O'Mara along with several other Council members refuse to take a look at the many serious problems that have resulted and to take steps to correct them. "No one's against recycling, but we should not have to pay for it twice if we're already recycling" said one homeowner.

Still, the idea of requiring people to pay for something they already do on their own or for a service they don't want has people like Stacy Barlow of Florissant and Bernice V. Coleman of Berkeley upset. Barlow, who bought her own bins and brings items to the recycling center three times a week, said it's the principle involved. "I have no problem recycling," Barlow said as she and her son, Brandon, unloaded their car at the Florissant Recycling Center. "But not to be given the choice and with people on fixed incomes, that's too much."

Coleman, 79, recently complained to the Berkeley City Council after the city's hauler, IESI, included a charge for recycling services on her bill. "Why should I be giving my money for a service I don't use?" Coleman asked.

Florissant Mayor Robert Lowery said the city was deluged with calls from residents complaining about the recycling charge. Since then, officials in Florissant, as well as in St. Ann, have received permission to delay implementing the recycling fees. County officials said St. Ann's contract with Allied Waste was in place on Jan. 1 and that it could delay complying with the county ordinance until March 2009.

Lowery said the city is exploring if residents can be granted an exemption from the recycling provision if the city already is recycling 40 percent of its trash. Lowery said the recycling requirement has been delayed until November.

O'Mara said it's been delayed at least until July."(Florissant) residents should not be paying for recycling," O'Mara said. "We have a window right now. "The county has only one landfill that's not filled to capacity, O'Mara said.In addition to saving landfill space, recycling also has economic benefits because it's a multimillion-dollar business in the county, he said. John W. Haasis, manager of the county's solid waste program, agreed that it's a critical time for trash collection in the county.

The more waste that's recycled, the less residents will eventually pay, he said. What? St. Louis County will actually lower the costs if there is more recycling? How gullible do you think county residents are?

Single-stream recycling is also easier for residents, he said. Recycled materials don't have to be sorted. The county has begun delivering 64- and 35-gallon recycling containers to one- and two-family residences in the unincorporated area, he said.

O'Mara said he and Delores Gunn, director of the county's health department, have been meeting with subdivision representatives in the unincorporated area to make the case for recycling.

Richard Krueger, energy resources coordinator with the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County, who was at a recycling event Saturday in Overland, said the county is playing catch-up with other parts of the country. He said California has been recycling for 30 years. "And it works," he said. "The problems we have today with our environment started one person at a time, and that's the way to get it back in shape."Linda Schuelz, an Overland resident and active recycler, looks to the future. "If (residents) want their grandchildren to have a good life and environment, they better start doing something now," she said. "We should have been doing something years ago."

Hey People!! No one is against recycling. The problem is paying for it twice. Not having the right to change to another recycler. Paying for it when a house sits empty on the market for two years. Paying for it when the homeowner winters in Florida for 4-6 months out of the year.

Trash Hauler Blasts St. Louis County Council on Trash Program

Charles Barcom, President of Meridian Waste Haulers, addressed the St. Louis County Council on March 25. He blasted the Council for not taking action to correct major deficiencies in the County's trash program that was approved by the Council in December 2006. He said his company has been unduly criticized by area residents for enforcing the county's directives to initiate billing charges for recycling services. He pointed out his company had to hire three additional employees to do nothing but field telephone calls on the county's trash program. He pointed out the program is not his responsibility but that of the County Council.

The company has canceled their billing to residents until such a time as the county makes up its mind on operations. He pointed out the trash program has been, and continues to be, a moving target. He criticized the county for not properly informing residents as to the delivery of the bins, effective dates of changes and who to contact for more information.

He stated he was directed to request important information from the county in writing but has been waiting for over 7 days for a reply.

Barcom read a letter to Council members from Robert Lowery, Mayor of Florissant. Lowery said the city will not follow the directives of St. Louis County pending further legal advice. Lowery said attorneys for the city are determining whether the single-stream recycling requirement applies to Florissant. He previously stated that Florissant residents were blaming Florissant officials for the increase in trash and recycling services that were authorized by the county.

The basic question is can a county pass a regulation affecting citizens of another city?

Trash Hauler Postpones Recycling Charge

Meridian trash hauling has postponed the charges for recycling for residents of Florissant until at least sometime this summer. The company recently started charging $5 for recycling pickups and came under fire from residents and Florissant city officials.

Officials are trying to determine if the city is exempt from a county ordinance that trash haulers include a weekly recycling pickup.

Florissant Mayor, Robert Lowery, said Merdian would suspend the surcharge.

Florissant Mayor Addresses Increase in Trash Hauling Fees; Says "Do Not Pay"

Recently, Mayor Robert G. Lowery, Sr. said that Florissant City Hall is receiving a large number of telephone calls from the residents in the City of Florissant inquiring why the trash haulers have added an additional fee for recycling. Mayor Lowery wants all of Florissant’s citizens to realize that the City has nothing to do with the rise in the customers’ pick ups. It is the result of an ordinance passed by St. Louis County’s Council and the haulers are increasing their fees due to an additional pick up. The Mayor stated that although he thinks the ordinance is meaningful and in the best interest of all of the County, it has caused a lot of confusion with County residents.

City residents should not pay a new surcharge on trash bills for recycling pickup until officials determine whether a county requirement that haulers provide the service applies to Florissant, Mayor Robert Lowery says.

St. Louis County implemented the ordinance with the intent to further participation in recycling efforts but a lot of citizens are opposed because it was mandated without a vote of the people and they do not want to pay additional fees. Mayor Lowery wanted to clarify his position and that of the Florissant City Council that they are whole-heartedly in support of recycling but are opposed to the mandate to the vendors in the City without the permission of businesses and homeowners.

Mayor Lowery asks that anyone who has a problem with this new ordinance to contact St. Louis County government at 314-615-HAUL. Please do not contact Florissant City Hall on this matter as we have no jurisdiction.

Click here for more information: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/D44FA4BF64BEFD2D8625741800138F29?OpenDocument

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County Residents Continue To Speak Out on Trash Issue

Having the County contract for trash pickup on behalf of its residents is one of the worst ideas to have surfaced in a very long time.

I do not need the County in order to have my trash picked up. I do not want the County to act on my behalf to determine by whom, when, and how my trash will be picked up, and at what cost to me.

I do not trust the County to act in my best interests when contracting for this service and ensuring its chosen contractor provides an appropriate level of serviceat modest cost.There is no need for the County to add trash collection to its responsibilities.

Even the County's most populous municipality, Florissant, allows residents to arrange their own trash hauling. If Florissant, which regulates more matters morestrictly than the vast majority of municipalities, sees no need to become involved in trash hauling, one must question what useful, or even legitimate, purpose is served by the County seeking to do so.

We do not need a larger, more powerful County government. We should not risk having trash collection, which would be among the largest contracts ever let by the County, become a way of dispensing political patronage or funneling tax dollars to favored parties.
. . . Anonymous