Garbage Rates Need To Go Up

Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

RANDOLPH, Utah.  April 4, 2018. Lyn Weston, Sanitation Supervisor, told County Commissioners that he was working on a lot of delayed maintenance.    Because of the state of the county equipment he has had to make a lot of repairs on a lot of old equipment and trucks.   He also anticipates dealing with growth and feels that the garbage pickup is losing money; with more growth, it will be financially impossible to provide sanitation services to the county.

With the growth of short-term rentals and tourism Weston provided data for the last five years.  There are now over 400 short-term rentals in the county.  He used the example of the Berry Patch subdivision, it has 64 homes with only 2 full-time residents.  The rest are rentals. The homes create $5,000 in income but it costs $10,000 to service them a year.  Ideal Beach pays $6,720 for their sanitation services but it costs the county $10,526. 

Commissioner Bill Cox questioned whether or not all the garbage is the Berry Patch or from other people dumping into its dumpsters.  Weston said that Garden City is subsidizing city dumpsters that people use to dump recreational waste. 

A sample of some of the areas where there are many garbage dumpsters and the number of dumps that are needed during the summer months

Location	May	June	July	August	Sept.	Total	#Dumpster	CubicYds
Bridgerland	34	22	68	49	39	212	8	1,696
Raspberry Patch	29	62	101	58	25	276	6-8	2,200
Buttercup	28	40	50	34	32	184	5	1,104
Ideal Beach	45	72	133	76	37	363	9	2,178
Sweetwater	67	81	138	82	57	425	12	2,550
Trailer Park	52	83	113	71	61	380	8	2,280

Most of the dumpsters in Shundahai and Bridgerland this last week were filled with illegal construction materials. 

“It all adds up,” said Weston.  “It is a problem.  How can we stay in business if we are hauling 50 dumpsters extra without reimbursement to fund extra people and more equipment.  We cannot keep up our with equipment needs."

Since short-term rentals seem to produce more garbage and are a business,  would the commission allow them to pay an extra fee for their licenses, Weston asked.  

Commissioner Norm Weston said that one short-term rental had 38 people for a week.  “I know there was a lot more garbage that week," he said.  All the counties around Rich County are charging more as a base price.   

Weston praised Mel and Ellen Maynes as an ideal example; they pay extra for their dumpster during the summer. So the county is receiving payment for actual costs.  Cox said that extra garbage used by rentals should be paid for and perhaps the data from the Maynes’ property could give a good a good base price for short-term rentals as their dumpsters are only used by their renters because they are not on a well-traveled road.

Some people complain that they aren’t using garbage pickup in winter but the garbage trucks need to be paid for year round.  Right now the cost of basic yearly service is $126.

The Commissioners told Weston to look at Maynes' data and to come up with a fee schedule to propose.