York Changes Course on Trimmed Recycling Schedule

By Amber Lester Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Less than a month after implementing a new recycling collection schedule, the York County Board of Supervisors agreed last night to transition back to weekly recycling pickup.

On July 5, the county began picking up recycling bins every other week, a cost-saving measure that trimmed $100,000 from the budget. But almost immediately, the 18-gallon bins provided by the county began to fill up fast, with recyclables spilling over the sides and strewn across the streets after strong winds. At Tuesday’s work session, board member Walt Zaremba said he believed the board had made a mistake when looking at ways to cut the budget.

But switching back to weekly pickup won’t be easy. The implementation of a new pick-up plan could take between four to six months, according to a presentation by John Hudgins, director of the Department of Environmental and Development Services, and County Administrator James McReynolds. He said the county would have to work with its recycling service provider, Tidewater Fibre, along with the Virginia Peninsula Public Service Authority, to implement the change. “They’ll have to hire people, train them on routes and so on,” McReynolds said. “It’s not just a matter of flipping a switch on and off.”

Because the process will take several months, the board will still save around $50,000 for this fiscal year, but will have to put up the remaining $50,000 to pay for half a year of service. That money will come out of the county’s contingency reserve. To make up for that $50,000 loss, McReynolds suggested the supervisors allow him to closely evaluate any positions that open up and leave approximately three positions vacant. “At this point, we’ve really cut back as far as we can without just cutting programs totally out,” he said. “This would have an impact on service.”

The board members weighed their options and agreed to go with that plan, but lamented the loss of potentially more jobs in the county. “All of a sudden we’ve reached the point where we’re cutting services,” said member Tom Shepperd. “Where are we going to cut next? Where are we going to find it? I don’t want to jump from this problem and go create another one. Are we going to delay business work? Will there be less people to do licensing?”

To add to the board’s list of anticipated future costs, Hudgins said many of the county’s recycling problems could be solved if larger bins were available to citizens. Although an exact cost is not yet known, McReynolds estimated it would cost the county an additional $500,000 to $550,000 to purchase larger bins for the approximately 60 percent of households that periodically recycle. He said about 45 percent of the county puts bins out regularly.

The city of Newport News recently terminated its contract with Tidewater Fibre, and McReynolds suggested it might be an opportune time for the county to renegotiate its contract. He said the county could pursue two options with the company: switch back to weekly pickup around January or attempt to get larger containers and continue with every-other-week pickup. By consensus, the board agreed to let the county explore those options.