Moscow City Council members agreed to fund new roll carts for Latah Sanitation, Inc. and appeased requests for adoption of two new park designs at their meeting Monday.
Mayor Bill Lambert said debate has been going on for a long time over what to do with $123,000 worth of rolling carts LSI ordered that do not meet city standards.
The issue came about in early August after the city, in partnership with solid waste franchise LSI, began the process of implementing a new single stream curbside-recycling program.
Roll carts used for solid waste collection were ordered in a color that did not meet city specifications, due to the color being too similar to other carts LSI owns.
Sanitation Operator Tim Davis expressed concern that similar colors in the carts have the potential to cause confusion in waste disposal, which he said could lead to further problems of contamination.
LSI had been required to foot the bill of the cart order that the city rejected, and Davis said the mix up has become a financial burden to the company.
Councilman Walter Steed repeatedly asked Davis and his supporters if there was anything the company could do with the carts and expressed reluctance to vote yes.
“I don”t know if it”s the government”s place to subsidize business when the business made the mistake,” Krauss said.
LSI members had already agreed to try to sell the carts and give 70 percent of the cost recovery to the city.
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Counsel member Jim Boland asked Latah Sanitation about whether they have plans to clean up contamination
due to people confusing recycling from trash containers due to the color looking the same.
President of Idaho Solid Waste Association Joe Johnson said he was concerned LSI would be blamed for any contamination costs that might arise due to confusion on cart color.
Councilman Art Bettge said it would be better for the new recycling program to start out on a good foot.
When contaminated waste is sent to the Moscow Recycling Center, the Latah County Solid Waste Department must ship it back and LSI pays for the shipping costs.
Steed expressed concern for the amount of time already used to debate the issue and thus voted yes for the city to help mitigate costs.
“I”m not thrilled about this,” Steed said of his vote.
The council voted unanimously for the City to help mitigate costs of the carts.
Park designs
Designs for future Itani and Indian Hills parks were also adopted at the meeting.
Parks and Recreation Director Dwight Curtis presented final designs created through a collaborative series of workshops Moscow citizens were involved in.
“We really wanted their input on this since it”s close to their homes and properties,” Curtis said.
Cost of construction was a concern echoed throughout the council as the cost of both parks is expected to total over $1.2 million.
“We are blessed with park land, but not blessed with park development,” Steed said. “If we try to do these one at a time, I don”t know who in this room will be alive to see it.”
Curtis said two more parks are in the works by the parks department.
On a side note, Mayor Lambert announced the City of Moscow was one of 52 communities out of 500 total to win five gold awards for the Let”s Move! campaign last week at The White House. The campaign focuses on promoting healthy communities through healthy diet and exercise.
The council will meet at 3 p.m. Thursday for a Draft Facility Study presentation.
Taylor Nadauld can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @tnadauldarg