Like it or not, Curbside recycling is a reality in Mariemont. The Mayor, invoking the ’emergency clause’, pushed through approval of the contract modification with Rumpke without public debate at the Council meeting on Monday, February 10th. This council meeting can be viewed on this link to ICRC. I predict that Curb-side garbage collection is in the works for the next year. Make no mistake, the Mayor is fully responsible for this change in Village services and not Rumpke, as is implied in the Rumpke postcard that was sent to all residents in Mariemont and can be viewed below.
Curbside Recycling — A SAFETY RISK TO OUR VILLAGE SENIORS…
We too encourage Village Counsel to take pause, hold public discussion beyond last June’s survey, and to consider the Safety Risk for falls to our Seniors. Moving to larger recycling containers with lids seems to be a good move. OUR SENIORS CARTING those larger containers to the curb presents a whole new set of challenges and risks.
In addition to other concerns from Villagers => see http://www.mariemont.com/tag/curbside-recycling/, our primary concern moving to curb-side recycling is for our Elders in the Village. Seniors and other Villagers we’ve polled consider this a major safety risk for our Seniors who may not be as strong and mobile as they once were, but still very much want to be environmentally responsible.
If just one of our tax-paying Elders takes a spill and breaks a hip carting their recycling to the curb, is the $17,000 savings worth the loss of health? Any of us with aging loved ones likely knows or has first hand experience with how devastating a fall on the driveway or sidewalk can be. Many never recover. While certainly a considerable expenditure, is $17,000 savings to the Village really worth the risk to our Seniors’ health and safety? I believe not. What do you think?
Please respond publicly to this post and we will see that Village Counsel receives your feedback. We learned from the Mayor’s Bulletin distributed yesterday that this change is to take place the last week of this month, so time is of the essence.
Respectfully Submitted, Bill and Kimberly Klumb
Bill and Kimberly, it’s a great point. My dad in Hyde Park, with an extremely steep driveway, could not use the bin that Rumpke delivered for him. It was a recipe for disaster.
I know this issue is a polarizing issue among many Mariemont residents. You can be assured that this issue alone will take up quite a bit of time at the annual Town Hall meeting later this month – as well it should if you ask me.
$17,000 in savings, while nice on the surface, seems more like a “soft blow” to the eventual impending step of curbside garbage recycling. Come time for the renewal of our contract with Rumpke, perhaps then it will be the end of rear yard collection altogether. Mayor Policastro said at the February 10th Village council meeting that no other garbage collection company will even attempt to place a bid on collection services in our Village because of the rear yard collection stipulation – meaning, that if Rumpke is the only game in town for such a service, then we end up paying for this decision to move recycling collection to curb-side one way or another.
For Rumpke to offer a “free” recycling collection cart to over 1400 or so households and to save $17,000 in the process, means that this deal means a lot more to Rumpke than it does to us. At 1400 or so households and to only save $17,000, could there not have been a small increase along the way to help keep some of the unique services that Mariemont has to offer the same?? Correct my math if I am incorrect, but $17,000 in savings for those 1400+ households equates to roughly a $12 increase per household. And if $17,000 is really that big of an issue, I think I could scrape up $12 a year to keep my recycle collection at rear yard. And, to be a good steward and to assist in cost-savings for all parties involved, I would be open to discussing buying one of the recycling carts – be it a 35 or 65 gallon container – to help offset the cost of Rumpke simply “giving” one of the carts to me for “free.” I understand that costs increase over time for good and services. I have spoken with my Rumpke collectors many times. They wish that we had wheeled carts for everything – from recycling, to trash, to lawn clippings. For instance, they hate the plastic bags for lawn debris as much as we as residents hate having to buy and fill the lawn bags. To have to tear open each and every bag before they dump the clippings into their truck is a huge pain for them and huge time/labor waster.
The bottom line is that it is a shame that this decision was voted on and implemented by Council without any real input or comments from the Village residents. To me, it is evident that there could have been more discussions or more means of which to accommodate the cost savings that Council so desired to achieve. $17,000 savings here, $10,000 savings there, etc, etc. Yes, it does start to add up. But eliminating rear yard pick-up, cutting back on police & fire staffing, eliminating elected officials, passing up an opportunity for a joint economic development zone that would have generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for our Village, etc, etc, THAT ALL TOO starts to add up as well.
Very well stated
I think that the covered containers will be a HUGE improvement… when items are not thoroughly rinsed, we get yellow jackets, raccoons, rodents (and yes, those “r” ones here in Mariemont) … when it rains the newspapers are a soggy mess… when it’s windy, those fliers and other loose papers start blowing. Yay for the new containers.
But, I am with you, I don’t understand why, even, say $25/year/household would be a big deal to maintain backyard pickup. A ‘typical’ property tax bill on a $250,000 house in Mariemont is~ $6,000 per year… with some home valuations less than that, but also many much more…up to four times that! An increase of any kind is a hardship for some families, I get that, but ~$25/year/household to keep this service in Mariemont seems like it would the an overwhelming choice.
And as explained above, $25 may be on the high side?
The decision seems to have been based on a survey, and there seems to be a belief on Council that the ‘majority’ of residents do NOT want to pay $25/year extra. I am not convinced that is truly the case, but I haven’t seen the survey or its results….