County approves changes to curbside pickup garbage service
By Debra Moore
No more dragging that trash can to the curb, soon all Plumas County residents with curbside service will be wheeling their cans instead.
The Plumas County Board of Supervisors approved via ordinance Aug. 10 a request from the county’s solid waste franchisees to require that all receptacles be “waste wheelers.” Many residents already have waste wheelers, and the ones currently seen around town are 64-gallon. Customers will have the choice of a smaller wheeler of 32 or 35 gallons, the 64- gallon size, or a larger 96-gallon wheeler.
John Kolb, the county’s interim solid waste manager, said that the garbage companies will be contacting customers to determine the size that is appropriate for them. In the area covered by Waste Management/Feather River Disposal, the cost will be part of the quarterly bill. In Intermountain Disposal’s contract area, a $3 fee will be added to the bill.
As for the public’s old containers, Kolb suggests that they use them around the house to pick up yard waste or debris, but they “can’t set them out on the curb because they won’t be picked up.”
The ordinance goes into effect 30 days after the supervisors approved it, which puts the implementation date in mid-September. However it will take a while for the garbage companies to provide all of the new receptacles.
These waste wheelers allow for the use of side loader trucks, which requires just one operator to handle a route, and to do it more safely. “This amendment is being proposed to allow for more efficient refuse collection and to prevent injury to sanitation workers caused by repetitive lifting of heavy containers, and to reduce the associated costs of lost working days and related medical costs,” the backup material read.
Wildlife incursions
The ordinance also included a reference to cans that are repeatedly compromised by wildlife. Customers are instructed to set the can out on the day of collection; store containers inside structures that are sufficiently secure to keep wildlife from entering; and ensuring that all containers are completely and securely covered while awaiting collection.
Repeated preventable instance of scavenging by wildlife will at first be dealt with by counseling as to proper storage and setting-out procedures by either Public Works or the Environmental Health Departments. If there is a second instance within a 12-month period of the first report, the customer will be cited, and a third instance may result in the installation of a bear-proof container at the customer’s expense.
