Portage garbage collectors will become color-blind when it comes to emptying trash bins into the trucks.
A new ordinance approved by the City Council on Tuesday spells out rates charged for collecting trash in toters or sprawled out beside the road. With curbside recycling officially ended, toters formerly used for recyclables can now be used for regular trash.
Residents can take recyclables to the street department but the items must be sorted into the proper containers.
Garbage must be in closed standard trash bags, not more than 50 pounds each, and placed in city-owned toters with the lid fully closed.
“We’d like them closed so it doesn’t impact the service,” Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Randy Reeder said. Overflowing trash bins slow down the route.
An ordinance approved Tuesday sets a series of fees to be assessed for residential trash collection.
The basic monthly fee is $20, with senior citizens and disabled individuals assessed $17. An additional toter costs $10 a month. Replacing a damaged toter is $100.
Bulk pickup is free on amnesty days if it fits within a 40-square-foot area. Otherwise, the cost is $40.
Depending on the size of the bulk pickup pile, the cost can range up to $800.
As initially presented, the new ordinance would have specified “to be determined” for the top fee. Councilman Collin Czilli, D-5th, spotted the TBD designation and questioned it Tuesday night.
At his suggestion, the council unanimously agreed on $800 for the top fee so the Board of Works isn’t put in the position of trying to assess a fair fee each time the bulk pickup pile exceeds 399 square feet.
The city’s actual cost for picking up all that trash depends on staffing, equipment and the number of trips required, as well as what the transfer station charges, Reeder said.
Various other fees for a variety of potential situations are spelled out in the ordinance.
“We take pictures of everything” to show what’s set out in case there’s a question later, Reeder said.
He also showed the council the tool his employees use to measure the area of a bulk pickup. Reeder set pink flags to indicate an area 4 feet by 10 feet in the council chambers to show the council how big the bulk pickup area could be for free pickup service on an amnesty day.
Mayor Austin Bonta jokingly offered to walk toward it if anyone needed a visual comparison for 5 feet high.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.