City Council Passes Yard Waste Reform Tuesday, April 16!
Ten ICON members attended and six spoke at City council. Alderman Theilen added an addendum to increase Waste & Recycling fee by $1.50 to pay for all-summer yard waste WITHOUT yard waste stickers!
Springfield City Council will consider a proposal to
ELIMINATE YARD WASTE STICKERS
and provide ALL-SUMMER YARD WASTE SERVICE.
The City of Springfield has provided spring and fall yard waste pickup at no additional cost for nearly 30 years. For pickup outside designated spring and fall times, residents have had to purchase $2 yard waste stickers specific to their waste hauler to put on the bags. The process has multiple drawbacks, which you can read about in more detail in the April 3 presentation if you are interested.
On Tuesday April 16, the City Council will be asked to approve, by emergency passage requiring 8 votes, the traditional spring and fall pickup.
HOWEVER, there will also be an amendment to expand pickup throughout the summer with NO STICKERS NEEDED. The funds to cover this year’s pickup are available in the Waste & Recycling fund. There are multiple reasons why the improved expanded program is a great idea.
Also up for discussion will be how to pay for improved service in future years. Given the long-term reduction in infrastructure damage and repairs, improvement in service, a cleaner, better-looking city, and elimination of the cost of stickers used by many residents, the benefits exceed the cost of providing the service.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT THIS IMPROVED YARD WASTE SERVICE?
- Call, email or text your city council member and tell them you support improved yard waste pickup. Find them here: https://springfieldicon.org/political-power/city-officials/
- Call or email the Mayor at 789-2200 and tell him you support improved yard waste pickup.
- Attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday April 16 at 5:30pm to lend your support.
- Speak to the council in favor of improved yard waste pickup on Tuesday night by signing up 24 hours in advance.
We will add information as we are aware on this page.