CAMDEN — The Camden City Council held a workshop Thursday to discuss business that will be voted on during the upcoming meeting of the Camden City Council.
A topic that has been discussed in both the November and December 2016 council meetings is the ordinance read as “an ordinance amending Section 11-101 of the Camden Code; establishing fees for depositing leaves, grass, yard trimmings and limbs less than 6 inches; and for other purposes.”
Commercial landscapers have spoken up at both meeting to share their concerns because the ordinance was written to charge commercial landscapers, but not residents. One issue brought up by every landscaper that spoke is that there are residents who make a living by providing a landscaping service to the community, but do not have a business license. Because of that, it appears that they are residents dumping waste and are not seen as a commercial landscaping operation.
Commercial landscaper Ricky Lay told the city council: “If the commercial landscapers have to pay a fee, then everyone should be required to pay a fee.”
The council took this under advisement and discussed the option at a workshop. It was questioned during the December city council meeting about if the creation of a fee was just a way to create revenue. But Camden Mayor Marie Trisollini stated that the city actually loses money by not charging a fee. The fee is not a “money maker,” but a way to break even, she said.
During Thursday's meeting, Alderman Chris Aregood stated that just the grinding of the waste materials costs $75,000 - and that does not include labor and maintaining the dumped materials so that another fire does not ignite while the material decomposes.
So the group could have a comparison, Denny Conway from Camden Public Works gave Trisollini and the aldermen a list of the fees that other cities and counties charge for the same service.
Currently, no one is charged to dump the specific materials locally, while surrounding dumps do.
The aldermen eventually settled on charging both residents and commercial companies for the depositing of leaves, grass, yard trimmings and limbs less than six inches. They stated that residents will pay $20 per ton, and commercial companies will pay $30 per ton. The alderman also increased the fee for depositing larger debris to $30 per ton.
These fees are not yet official, and will need to be voted on and approved during a city council meeting.
Trisollini also gave each alderman a copy of the revised policies and procedures to review. She told them about what changes were made - which were less than 10 - and stated that the new version will have to be voted on at the next meeting.
The meetings of the Camden City Council are open to the public and the next on will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 10 at City Hall.