ST. LOUIS — Frustrated by a labor shortage that has kept ºüÀêÊÓƵ from making separate pickups of recyclables for months in most of the city, an alderman is calling for a temporary reduction in residents’ refuse collection bills.
“We’re paying for service I believe we’re not getting,†said Alderman Joe Vaccaro, who has introduced a nonbinding resolution asking for a cut in the $14-a-month trash collection charge.
Vaccaro, of the 23rd Ward, said he and most constituents who have contacted him on the issue prefer that Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ administration resume the separate pickups of recyclables and trash, which stopped in neighborhoods served by alley dumpsters last July.
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But he said if that can’t happen, it’s only fair that the charge be reduced. He also said it should be made retroactive to last July and that partial refunds be issued for that period.
Vaccaro also proposed that the city consider contracting with a private company to handle the recycling pickups.
“The people calling me don’t want a refund, they just want them to start picking it up,†Vaccaro said. “The people that want this are environmentally conscious.â€
A spokesman for Jones, Nick Dunne, said only that “we are watching this resolution move through the legislative process†and didn’t say whether a fee reduction or outsourcing would be considered.
The city continued to include a statement saying all items left in blue alley dumpsters will be mixed with trash until the staffing shortage is over, the statement said. About 80% of the city’s neighborhoods have been affected.
Residents in such areas who still want to recycle have been told to take such items to 25 locations around the city where the material is still gathered for proper processing.
Meanwhile, separate weekly residential pickups of recyclables and trash have continued in a smaller portion of the city where individual rollcarts are used. That includes neighborhoods without alleys and some other areas.
In December, city officials said some progress had been made in hiring trash truck drivers but that nine of 69 positions were still vacant then.
But they said another serious problem was a lack of mechanics to maintain trash trucks and other city vehicles as well.
On Friday, the city didn’t provide a specific update on vacancies. Streets Director Betherny Williams in a statement said the city had taken several steps in the effort to resume alley recycling pickup.
She said the city continues to offer a “hiring incentive†for new drivers and is assessing its collection routes to evaluate where to improve efficiency. However, she didn’t offer a timetable for when the separate recycling pickup might begin again.
The city began charging a refuse fee for the first time in 2010, the same year it started separate pickup of single-stream recycled items citywide.
In 2017, the Board of Aldermen increased the fee by $3 to the current $14 monthly charge. The amount is included along with city water charges on bills mailed quarterly.
Vaccaro said if the board passes his resolution but the administration doesn’t agree to a reduction, he plans to introduce a proposed ordinance to require it. The measure would restore the full $14 fee once regular recycling pickup resumed, he said.
Vaccaro’s resolution doesn’t have a specific amount of reduction but in an interview he suggested a cut of about a third since the city is supposed to provide once-weekly pickup of three types of refuse — trash, recyclables and yard waste. Yard waste collection runs from March through November.
Administration officials didn’t respond Friday to a request for information on how much of the $14 fee is devoted to recycling pickup.
Originally posted at 3:12 p.m. Sunday, March 20.