Added price to be absorbed

[09/05/03] The requirement that Vicksburg residents bundle limbs will go away once a deal with Waste Management is completed but it won’t be cheap.

The Mayor and Aldermen voted Thursday to accept a proposal from its contract garbage collection firm and authorized the city attorney to negotiate the details of an agreement.

The plan will increase the cost of curbside collection $2.15 per household, but Mayor Laurence Leyens said the city will absorb that cost and not raise rates paid directly by residents again. Last November, customers saw bills rise by $1.55 to $12.60 per month for twice-weekly pickups.

“I think the garbage discussion is over with,” Leyens said. “You’ll have the Rolls Royce of garbage collection. There’s no other like this in the country.”

With the Waste Management proposal, residential customers will be able to mix garbage and rubbish in the 96-gallon trash cans twice a week. Larger debris including tree limbs will be picked up once a week. Hazardous materials including paint cans, car batteries and motor oil will still be excluded.

Officials have said they are backing off the bundling rules because of complaints. Many elderly have said they are unable to cut and tie large piles of limbs.

“We thought we had a good answer, but apparently there are elderly people who can’t cut these piles and a lot of sticker bushes out there,” Leyens said.

Before the change, Vicksburg had a rubbish collection staff, and fleet of vehicles and equipment. The department’s employees and some equipment were transferred to other departments and the rest of the equipment was sold.

Leyens estimated that about 30 percent of the community wanted the rules that require cutting and bundling eliminated, but a survey conducted this summer by the city indicated that only 1 percent were opposed to the rules. The survey was conducted by summer youth employees during the daytime.

Before new rules can go into effect, the city board will have to amend the garbage ordinance during a public meeting. The rules take 30 days to change.

In other matters the city board:

Recognized senior of the month Roy Campbell.

Adopted an ordinance vacating portions of the right-of-way at Carlton Place and Porters Chapel roads.

Awarded bids for 70 benches downtown and fencing at the new firefighters training center in north Vicksburg.

Approved the purchase of a $13,939 metal building for use by the street department.

Approved a request for $9,244 from the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation for grant matching funds.

The city board will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall Annex.

Bond issue officially OK’d

Vicksburg officials voted Thursday to borrow $5.8 million at an interest rate of 3.7 percent to fund water and sewer improvements, mostly in areas annexed 13 years ago.

The Mayor and Aldermen approved the sale of the 15-year bonds with little comment, but said the money will pay for work that should have been done years ago. That work will include installing fire hydrants in the North and South wards and six new water wells.

It was the second bond issue for the current administration starting its third year. The previous $17.5 million was borrowed at an interest rate of 3.62 percent.

“This is a really good rate,” said Demery Grubbs, former mayor, who works as a consultant to cities across the state.

Grubbs was hired by the city to administrate the sale of the bonds and present the board with five bids Thursday for the sale. He recommended the sale through Morgan Keegan & Company financial services, the low bidder.

Officials have said they expect to raise water and gas rates this year, in part to fund the repayment of the loan. Mayor Laurence Leyens had said Monday that the board would discuss the proposed increases at Thursday’s meeting, but that did not happen.

During the city’s public budget hearing last week, officials said they expect water rates to increase 11 percent and gas rates to go up 15 percent. They said it should amount to about $2 to $3 per month for each customer.

Municipal utility rate increases require an amendment to the city ordinance and must be approved in a board meeting.

Last month during a public hearing on the bond issue, a last-minute petition with the names of 620 voters was presented to the board calling for a public vote on the bond, but it was short the 1,500 registered voters required to force a referendum.