CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Thursday the Clearlake City Council took the first step toward establishing universal garbage collection, a long-held goal of city leaders who say it will make Clearlake a safer, cleaner, more desirable city.

Following a lengthy discussion, the council approved the first reading of an ordinance introducing the mandatory citywide trash collection services for residents and set it for a second and final reading on July 27.

Additionally, the council voted to amend the city’s franchise agreement with Clearlake Waste Solutions to allow for the change in services and approved beginning the Proposition 218 notification process, including the setting of an Aug. 10 protest hearing.

The only no vote on those motions was Councilwoman Joyce Overton’s on the ordinance’s first reading; she had raised objections to raising one more cost on city residents in the wake of a new city road sales tax, school bond and fire tax.

She asked if they were trying to run people out of the city. “That’s what I feel like we’re doing.”

However, Councilman Phil Harris and Mayor Russ Perdock, both of whom had served on a city ad hoc committee to explore universal waste collection, said the service was needed and had been carefully considered.

If the council approves the ordinance’s final reading next month and the city gets through the protest hearing scheduled for August, universal garbage collection would go into effect on April 1, 2018.

City Manager Greg Folsom said the lead time is needed to allow the city’s franchise hauler, Clearlake Waste Solutions, to purchase more equipment and prepare for the ramp up in services.

Implementing universal garbage service would put Clearlake in the company of a majority of local governments around the state that require garbage collection, which in part is meant to reduce illegal dumping, according to city leaders.

The Lakeport City Council voted in 2003 to institute universal garbage collection, which so far is not required in the unincorporated county.

Folsom said that the city has previously been out of compliance with state requirements for waste reduction. While it is now in compliance, he said it’s still vulnerable to future fines and penalties if it were to again fail to meet state rules.

Additionally, he pointed, out, Clearlake suffers from an inordinate amount of dumping, and the waste service is expected to address that.

By requiring waste collection citywide, another 2,000 customers are expected to be added to the existing 3,810 that Clearlake Waste Solutions services, Folsom said.

The council’s action to amend the franchise agreement with Clearlake Waste Solutions included a rate increase that is mean to “true up” the difference between the company’s expenses for the service and the income it receives.

Under the updated agreement, and with the rate increase, the average customer – who uses a 32-gallon cart – would see their monthly costs rise from $15.46, the lowest in the county, to $19.99.

Folsom said that 29-percent increase is meant to catch up for several years in which Clearlake Waste Solutions received an average of a 1-percent annual rate increase as well as meet rising service costs.

For those with 20-gallon carts, monthly costs would rise from $13.03 to $16.85 per month. For commercial two-yard bins, monthly expenses would rise from $185.56 to $239.96.

It was explained during the meeting that the rate increase – which was requested whether universal collection was approved or not – covers higher rates at the county landfill, equipment and labor, impacts from new state legislation, as well as an increase from 10 percent to 15 percent in the franchise fee it will pay the city,.

Those increased franchise fee funds are needed to create a bad debt reserve fund for waste collection, said Folsom, adding that the franchise fee is general fund revenue that can be used at the council’s discretion for various services including citywide cleanups and red tag property abatements.

The universal garbage collection ordinance requires that all residential properties – single family homes, mobile home parks and multiple unit residences – have the service. It may be required for commercial properties that have solid-waste related code violations, said Folsom.

Folsom said the commercial properties that do not subscribe to the service must provide disposal receipts to the city on a quarterly basis so the city, in turn, can prove to the state that the waste is being properly handled.

There are exemptions for the service for residential properties where no food is prepared or consumed; where no solid waste of any kind is generated; which aren’t connected to power or water and are not able to connect without action by a utility; and vacation homes used exclusively by the owner and not rented or used by others during the year, Folsom said.

Folsom said a solid waste code violation will terminate an approved exemption.

In cases where customers fail to pay, after 90 days of being past due, Clearlake Waste Solutions will reduce the services to the smallest bin size and make reasonable efforts to collect before submitting the bad debt to the city, Folsom said.

Folsom said the city, in turn, will initiate collection procedures, which can include assessing unpaid garbage bills on property taxes. He added that the city is not responsible for bad debt the company has prior to the implementation of universal service.

The city also is required to go through the Proposition 218 notification process. Folsom said that process must be followed when an agency imposes a tax, fee, assessment or charge as an incident of property ownership.

He said the law requires 45 days’ notice, with a requirement to contact property owners and existing customers by mail. Fifty-one percent of customers would need to protest to stop universal garbage collection from going forward.

During brief public comment, two community members voiced support and a third questioned whether the city could really establish the service.

In the subsequent council discussion, Vice Mayor Bruno Sabatier said he wanted to see the rate increase done in tiers over several years, raising concerns that they are pricing people out of living in the city. Folsom explained that the ad hoc committee, however, had felt it was best to have the rate increase go into effect right away.

Overton said the city would never stop illegal dumping. “If we think we are we’re in a dreamland.”

She said she wanted a protest hearing done before the council accepted the ordinance and added that she didn’t feel she had enough time to research the proposal.

Harris maintained that the city’s garbage collection rates would still be very reasonable, even with the increase, and that the service will be an enormous benefit to the community.

“Everybody I've spoken to was very, very supportive of the universal disposal,” he said, noting that illegal dumping is creating “a pretty enormous mess” in the city.

Responding to Sabatier’s concern about people moving out of city due to costs, Harris said he’s known people who moved out of the city due to its failing to take action and move forward on programs like universal disposal.

He also felt concerns about bad debt would be reduced, with the responsibility shifting from renters to property owners.

“Right now, this is what is right for our city,” said Harris, asserting that it would make Clearlake cleaner and safer, and create a city where people ultimately want to live and stay.

Overton agreed that the garbage fees had been too low, but said they were asking too much of city residents lately with increases in taxes and bonds.

“I think we need to slow down and let them take a breath,” she said, noting that she’s hearing from people who say they can’t afford it. She pointed to reports of many seniors leaving California.

Harris said he agreed with Overton that California is extraordinary expensive. “That’s a California problem.”

However, he said if someone moved out of Clearlake to go elsewhere in the state, it would be more expensive for them.

He said the rate increases still leave costs under $20 a month for garbage customers, and gives them a very big bang for their buck.

Perdock said a lot of negative things are said about Clearlake, which has been referred to as a third-world country. At the same time, local groups have been going out to work on cleaning up the city.

“This is just one component of that, to make our city cleaner, to make our city safer,” he said, adding, “We can’t afford to put this off any longer.”

The council didn’t put it off, subsequently taking the votes to approve the contract amendment, pass the ordinance on for further action next month and start the protest process.

In other business, the council voted to appoint Perdock as the voting delegate and Overton as the alternate at the League of California Cities’ September annual conference, approved a resolution for the city to join the league’s Healthy Active Living Campaign, received the annual report from the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce and heard a presentation on the Lake County Wellness Roadmap by the Health Leadership Network.

During staff reports, Public Works Director Doug Herren said city personnel are doing field work to prepare for upcoming road projects.

Folsom said that the city also has moved forward on abating hundreds of abandoned vehicles with funds through the Abandoned Vehicle Authority. He said 269 vehicles were tagged, 100 were towed and 33 were gone on arrival before the city’s hauler could remove them.

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