Chipley Council approves garbage rate hike

Chipley Council’s main topic of discussion Thursday was the price of taking out the trash. Waste Management came to the council with a problem, they needed gas money.

After a long and thorough debate, Council approved the proposal by Waste Management to adjust the cost of waste removal according to the cost of fuel.

Rory Cassedy, governmental affairs manager for Waste Management, explained that the amount of fuel needed at current prices has made it so that they cannot afford to put out any more trucks to retrieve the trash unless they increase revenue.

The cost of residential and commercial waste removal would rise to meet the cost of transport. However, with the rise comes the potential of a decrease if fuel prices drop. It was agreed that the adjustment would be made upward or downward .25 percent for every increase or decrease in the price of diesel by five-cent increments using the base of $4.06 to $4.10 per gallon.

The proposal states that the residential and commercial rates will be adjusted quarterly, starting Oct 1. Each quarter after that will reflect any change in the cost of diesel fuel as determined by reference to the Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy (EIA/DOE) website that reports average prices of diesel fuel for the “Lower Atlantic” United States. That site is at http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/wohdp/diesel.asp.

Additionally, starting on July 1, 2009 and on that date annually the Residential and Commercial rates will be adjusted by 90 percent of the change of the Commercial Price Index (CPI-W) from January of the prior year to January of the current year.

Also approved at the meeting was the appointment of a liaison to the official meetings of the Downtown Merchants Association. Council Member Cheryl McCall will serve as liasion.

The Downtown Merchants Association is encouraging downtown businesses to participate in a collaborative effort to aid in communication between the merchants, the city and its citizens.

The Downtown Merchants Association hosts a web page at www.downtownchipley.com; “If you operate a business in Chipley (or you have a business opportunity you'd like to make available) and you'd like to be included on this site, simply let us know and we'll be glad to highlight your business free of charge,” as announced on the page.

The remaining items on the agenda at the City Council Meeting were postponed until the next meeting due to time constraints.