Bravo Councilman Mike Ray

[jay]

If you participate in the pay-as-you-throw program, you would pay by the bag for trash service.  If you don't want to participate, a resident would pay the monthly flat rate which currently is $15.75 per month in Youngstown.

[Towntalk]

There are a number of apartment buildings in the city, Jay, can you explain how they would be accommodate in trash pickup since in each case, they have a central source where the tenants place their trash and it is picked up in the same manner as commercial trash pickup. I reference the high rises downtown as an example.
Again, yesterday (Sunday) I went grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and noted a number of homes along Fifth Avenue had a number of large trash bags full of leafs already out waiting pickup. The same was true along Gypsy Lane on the Youngstown side.

[Towntalk]

So far in this discussion no one has made an effort to link to authoratative sources on the pay as you throw program so here are four links that give us authoratative information. Note especially the fourth link that is a US-EPA link on this topic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_as_you_throw

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/payt/payt.htm

http://www.paytnow.org/

http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/tools/payt/top9.htm

[jay]

Pay-As-You-Throw has been available in many communities across the country but not in Youngstown.

[jay]

Here is an example from Malden, MA.  A resident buys of box of prepaid Malden, MA trash bags and uses them as needed.  It could be one a week, one every two weeks, five a week or whatever.



This pay-as-you-thrown service is available to any resident who wants to use it.

[Youngstownshrimp]

I think the local government and community organizing nonprofits should pay for all our trash removal.  Infact, they should send servants to take the trash out of my house so the wife can stop hollering. 

[Towntalk]

How would it be determined who is or who is not a senior citizen? I guess that we seniors would have to apply for a discount with the water department since our trash bills are part of the water bill, and since the water department doesn't know the age of its customers that means that the senior would have to go down with proof of age. BY THE WAY, NOT ALL SENIOR CITIZENS HAVE COMPUTERS SO DON'T EVEN GO THERE.
How much of a discount would it be ... a couple of dollars per billing ... is it really worth it to save about $8.00 a year or less?
And what about a family that lives in a duplex with the parients living on one side and a child on the other? All the trash has to be placed in one spot for pickup so how would it be determined which bag is "Senior Citizen" and which isn't?

[stewie]

Interesting concept. Now who would monitor the number of bags that customers are throwing out? 

[AllanY2525]

Where I live in MD, Montgomery county removes all trash county-wide, regardless of
city or neighborhood.  We are given recycle bins for paper, plastic, glass and metal
containers.

Lawn and garden waste is picked up as long as it's in brown paper bags.  Small tied bundles of
sticks and twigs less than 3 feet in length are also accepted.

There is no limit on regular household trash.  Customers are allowed to schedule two "heavy pickups" per
year at no extra cost ( refrigerators, furniture, TVs, etc) extra pickups must be paid for separately.

Everyone pays the same fee for regular trash removal and recycling services here.

[jay]

The Pay-As-You-Throw system could be one answer. 

BFI used to do this in the suburbs.  You used to be able to purchase blue bags with BFI printed on them.  The cost of the blue bags included the trash fee.  People who used fewer blue bags would obviously have a smaller trash collection expense for their household.

This works well in other cities and it doesn't only apply to seniors.  I doubt our city will start this program but I am willing to wait to see if Councilman Mike Ray has any real influence.

[Towntalk]

There are some people that expect to have things handed to them on a silver platter. I for one am a senior citizen on a fixed income, and yes, I only set out one trash bag a week on average, but no more than two, BUT I do not go around expecting to get free handouts at every turn. I wasn't brought up that way, and by God, I'm not going to change now.
Let's get something streight right here and right now. Just because we are senior citizens doesn't say that we're entitled to anything special, and on our priority list, trash pick-up is nowhere on the radar. Food, clothing, medical expenses and shelter, those are our priorities, and as for anything else we budget our resources to fit.
Just speaking for myself and no one else, I'm quite content with my lot in life, I don't go running off to every new restaurant that comes to town, I could care less about a pool hall opening, I shop where I get the biggest bang for the dollar, yet I live quite comfortably thank you ever so much, and yes, I do set aside funds for emergencies, and thankfully those are few and far between.
After having put in over 40 years working, I can now sit back and enjoy life. I don't need some politician some politician trying to hand me stuff I never asked for or expected, or even need just so he could further his political career.

[joly1584]

Youngstown's trash removal has been very generous in picking up extra trash and it isn't right for senior citizens to pay the same as those who generate more trash.  The city would need to have and enforce rules for trash pickup. 


In my hometown, where trash pickup is privatized, each customer is charged based on the number of trash cans given to them by the trash removal company.  The trash removal company will not pick up any more trash than what is in the cans allotted to that customer.  If a customer has extra trash they need to call the company to make arrangements for the pickup and to pay an extra fee.  Furniture and yard debris are not picked up.


What I don't like about the privatized system in my hometown is that trash pick up days for neighbors are in different weeks(every other week) and on different days of the week - there are always trash cans out somewhere in the neighborhood.  I like Youngstown having the trash in a neighborhood being picked up on the same day.


My neighbor would qualify for the senior citizen discount, but his son lives with him and generates lots of trash.  How do you get around something like that?

[jay]

The City of Youngstown is about to take bids to provide the city's trash removal service.  Councilman Mike Ray was the only councilman to ask if the fee for senior citizens could be lowered because they generate less trash and are on fixed incomes.