YORBA LINDA : Council to Discuss Trash Fee Increase

The City Council will hold a public hearing tonight to discuss a proposed increase in trash rates to pay for a mandatory recycling program.

During the hearing, which will start at 7 p.m. at Yorba Linda Civic Center, the City Council will also hear comments about proposed pickup schedules and use of new trash cans.

The proposed program calls for the city’s 16,700 households to receive a 110-gallon green barrel for recyclables and 110-gallon black barrel for other garbage. Regular trash would be collected each week, and recyclables would be collected every other week.

The proposal also calls for starting a pilot program in which 700 households would receive a third 110-gallon barrel for compost materials, such as grass clippings and leaves, which would be collected each week. City officials say the program, believed to be the first of this type in Orange County, is needed because Yorba Linda has higher-than-average lot sizes and properties that allow horses to be kept there.

The city and Yorba Linda Disposal have proposed that each resident be charged an extra $3.07 a month, bringing the monthly trash bill to $12.87. The increase includes a 5-cent hike to pay for the compost-collection program.

The council will also consider another proposal for issuing about $5 million in municipal bonds to help pay for the 10 trucks and 34,000 trash barrels needed to start the program, said Assistant City Manager Bruce Channing.

Before the program is launched in late spring, Yorba Linda Disposal plans to hold three public meetings in April and May, send mailers and provide videotaped information on the city’s public access cable channel.

The city is starting the program in an attempt to meet the requirements of a state law that requires cities to reduce the amount of waste that goes into landfills 25% by 1995 and 50% by the year 2000.