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The Marshalltown city council spent the last 15 minutes of Monday night's meeting discussing a potential change to the code of ordinances in response to news that at least one sanitation company in town has been utilizing an automated truck and asking customers to place their receptacles within four feet of the street or curb.
As City Clerk Alicia Hunter explained, that directive is a violation of the current city ordinance, which stipulates that receptacles cannot be more than five feet in front of the front line of a dwelling on collection day. She then presented some suggestions to modify the ordinance and allow for the use of an automated truck before opening the matter up for council discussion.
Councilor Mike Ladehoff spoke up first, noting that Conrad-based Moler Sanitation was the company in question and wondering why the city wasn't consulted before they started utilizing the new truck.
"I don't wanna penalize Moler for investing in new equipment, newer style equipment, that kind of thing. I'm sure it was expensive, but I also don't want to put our other four garbage haulers at a disadvantage because now Moler doesn't even have to have somebody at the back of the truck because he can pretty much just drive down the street, pick them up and dump them," Ladehoff said. "The other haulers are still following the face of the house rule where they have to go back and get the garbage. They have to have another person, which is, I'm assuming, why Moler bought these trucks. Because now I don't have to have a person back there."
He added that he wasn't sure where to go from here but was "not very happy" about the situation, asking if representatives of any of the other haulers were in attendance. There were none.
"My feelings are I don't think they should've started before we had this dealt with," Ladehoff said. "I'd like to get some feedback from the other haulers because it seems like if we allow it to go ahead and (have) Moler pick it up at the curb, it puts them at an economic disadvantage."
Ladehoff was skeptical of allowing everyone to put their receptacles out by the street due to the potential for driving by their trash on pickup day, noting that there at least four different private haulers operating in Marshalltown -- Moler, Stone Sanitation, Area Sanitation and Le Grand Sanitation. Moler recently purchased Ferch Sanitation, which also previously operated within the community.
Moler Owner/Operator Gabe Stone told the T-R automation is beneficial for both safety and efficiency reasons.
"Automated collection allows for a safer, more efficient and uniform collection system. Implementation of the carts is a true volume based pricing structure and it also encourages recycling to alleviate overage charges," Stone said.
He added that he believes the council should look at amending the ordinance.
Councilor Jeff Schneider said he would favor changing the ordinance to accommodate automated pickup and allow residents to put their cans out the night before if they have an early morning collection time.
"Mike, I understand (that) it definitely does put the others at a disadvantage, but I think if we change the ordinance, they'll probably change their equipment eventually," Schneider said. "Virtually every other community I go to has this type of automated pickup, at least a lot of them, so I think we're a little behind the times there."
Ladehoff responded that in light of conversations about cleaning up the community and making it look nicer, he didn't believe having "all kinds of garbage cans" out every day would bode well in relation to the stated goal. Mayor Joel Greer shared observations from Austin, Texas, where he owns a home, and said the city utilizes a single municipal hauling system. He recalled conversations from his days as a city councilor about potentially consolidating hauling operations within Marshalltown but noted it was "a very unpopular suggestion" 10 years ago.
"Everybody had his or her own favorite hauler, and that idea didn't get two feet off the ground," Greer said.
Councilor Gary Thompson then asked about who would be fined if the ordinance does not change, and Hunter responded that the hauler is responsible for enforcement on their customers. According to the current letter of the law, if the trash is out in a place that is against city ordinance, the haulers are not to pick it up, and Hunter said she would have to ask the city attorney on how often they would be fined.
"The city doesn't do any code enforcement on trash receptacles. It's up to the hauler to do the enforcement," Hunter said.
Thompson opined that whatever rules were applied to one hauler must be applied to all of them, and he echoed Ladehoff's frustrations with Moler violating the ordinance.
"I'm not in favor of doing (a change) at this time, but I think we need to have further discussion on how we are going to approach this. And I'm assuming part of it is they can't get help. It's like every other business in town," he said. "So I think we need further discussion, but I'm not in favor of moving forward tonight."
Councilor Gabe Isom noted that while he didn't disagree with Thompson's statements, Moler did make a substantial investment in the new truck, so he questioned how much of an "economic disadvantage" it would actually create for the other haulers.
During the public comment period on the matter, Leigh Bauder worried about raccoons getting into the trash if cans are set out the night before, and Doris Kinnick, a former Ferch customer who is now with Moler, said she "didn't like" the new system.
"The garbage can is huge. It's bulky, and I just think in the winter time, it's gonna be a real pain in the butt to get out to the curb," Kinnick said.
Kathy Steinberg said Moler had "great cans" but decided not to use their service because of the small size of her yard. She later added, however, that at least with Moler, the city would have "uniform cans and a uniform look."
Jim Shaw asked why a law couldn't be passed to accommodate Moler and not allow customers of the other haulers to put their receptacles out at the curb unless the companies invested in the new, automated truck. As the discussion wrapped up, Greer concluded that further conversations would be necessary before taking any official action.
Ladehoff wondered if the ordinance would be enforced for now, and Greer said he would leave that to the discretion of the city staff person in charge of such decisions. Councilor Barry Kell also encouraged residents to report nuisances to the city as only nine complaints had been submitted the previous week.
"There are a lot more than nine in this community," he said.
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Contact Robert Maharry
at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or
rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.