With just a few weeks left in the year, Wednesday’s meeting of the Summit County Council looked at changes in transit, trash collection and business operations amid the pandemic.
The Council considered changes in their fee schedule, in particular the household trash fee.
Speaking to KPCW, Council Member Chris Robinson noted that trash collection had been financed by the county’s General Fund, but some years ago, the county set up a household fee of $36 a year.
That was later raised to $40.
Now, Robinson said, County Manager Tom Fisher is proposing to increase it by 50 percent—to $60—for the 2021 budget.
“Most of the surrounding jurisdictions have, as he mentioned, a lot higher-per-household fee—many multiples, two, three, four multiples of that $60. The beauty of having a per-household fee is that it puts the burden of the trash collection on the actual homes, as opposed to on the property tax, which is not directly linked to trash collection.”
He said the Council’s decision remains to be seen. But their goal is to set up an Enterprise Fund, or a trash district, that will handle trash pickups, recycling and operation of the landfill.
“I think this is just a part, but most jurisdictions do it this way. And if you think about it, so even if it were $60 per month, that’s a very small $5 a month to get rid of your trash and recyclables. It’s just not a huge deal, I don’t think. But it is a lightning rod in some people’s minds. We’ll probably hear about it.”
A public hearing on the trash fee increase is set for later in the month.
On another topic, the Council passed a six-month Temporary Zoning Ordinance. Given the Covid restrictions on indoor activity, this would allow business to get approvals for outdoor dining, tents or similar structures.
“I don’t know whether we’re gonna have a land-office rush, people lining up to do it. But I think it’s a nice tool to have available for those that want to. Our resorts may take advantage of it. I don’t know about the restaurants on Main Street, whether they would want to have some kind of a tent out on the sidewalk. We talked about making sure that it didn’t impede the pedestrian-vehicular access and things.”
Finally, Council Members are trying to work out details for a Transit District which could, said Robinson, evolve into a regional organization.
Right now, it’s mostly a Snyderville District. They’re looking at a seven-member governing Board, which would include two Council Members, a member each from the sectors of business, workforce and planning and development, and two at-large members.
But Robinson said there are some complications in the state law about the District.
“Because state code requires that for every unit of service miles that there is, that that group have a right to sit on the Board of Trustees, that there be a board member, a trustee for these units, as they’re defined in the code. And the problem is as we grow it then, and as other parties have units, then they’re entitled to a seat. And Caroline Rodriguez gave the example of another district in the state that has grown where it now has 19 trustees.”
Council Member Chris Robinson, who said they’d like to get the District up and running by the end of next June.
