Many
have expressed frustrations with the City's announcement of the Recycle Plus
Pilot Program and have contacted my office. We≠ve spent the past few days
communicating with staff at
the Environmental Services Department to better
understand what's happening and why.
First,
here's what we've been working on: We've
set up a community meeting for Naglee Park residents to discuss this issue more
fully with Environmental Services staff on Thursday, November 5th,
at 6:30-7:30 pm, in the Roosevelt Community Center .
We've
been pushing staff to better communicate the reasons for this change, as well
as to let residents know how they can obtain a second or third cart at no
additional cost, by calling 408-535-3500.
More
information will be conveyed at the community meeting, but in the meantime,
here are some answers to frequently asked questions:
Why
are we doing this? That is, what is this pilot really testing?
San
Jose is the only major city in the country collecting loose in the street
yard trimmings, a method which is very inefficient, expensive, and contributes
to stormwater blockages and pollution. The pilot will test various
methods of collecting yard trimmings and the impact on costs and our environmental
goals. In Naglee Park and other areas, the City is testing how uniformly
requiring cart collection compares to the current approach (loose in the
street≈ collection). Data received from this pilot will help us determine
comparative program costs, operational challenges, customer satisfaction, and
differences in yard trimming tonnage diversion.
Will
residents have to pay more in some way for these carts?
You≠ll pay less. Residents who participate in the pilot areas will
receive free yard trimming pick-up service beginning in the week of
November 9th (unlike the residents in the rest of the city, who will
continue to pay their standard fees).
How
were residents selected?
Environmental
Services staff selected a total of 5,000 homes, located in pilot areas based
upon the collection day, collection route, proximity to stormwater catch
basins, area yard vegetation, hauler district, and council district. They
chose areas that would best provide data representative of the entire city.
What
about the heavy volumes of yard waste at specific times, e.g., in autumn?
The
city is considering adding supplemental service collection for times of year in
which they anticipate increases in yard waste.
Many
of our neighborhoods do volunteer clean-ups of medians and park strips, often
collecting large amounts of trimmings. How can neighborhood groups deal with
collection of this?
Pilot
area residents can request extra 96 gallon yard trimming carts at no additional
charge. Just call the Customer Service Center at 408-535-3500.
There
is no additional charge for carts during the pilot program, what will happen
afterwards? Will I be charged?
At
the end of the 18 month pilot, your cart will be collected, and the loose in
the street collection will resume. City staff will then evaluate the
data gathered during the pilot, and decide the best method for collection in
time to prepare for the expiration of the current garbage hauling contracts in
2013. If City staff decides to make permanent changes, they will become
part of the new garbage contracts that will become operative in July 2013.
What
other areas were chosen?
The
areas chosen for the pilot include; Council Districts 3 (downtown), 7 (south
San Jose ), 6 (Willow Glen), 9 (Cambrian) & 10 ( Almaden Valley ).
Why
isn't Recycle Plus having a community meeting at a nearby library or community
center?
After
the notices were sent out, we learned that no meetings would occur near our residents,
so we asked City staff to host an additional community meeting. That
meeting will occur on Thursday, November 5th, at 6:30 pm in the
Roosevelt Community Center . If you can't make that meeting, please send
any questions or comments you have to ragan.henninger@sanjoseca.gov
and Ragan will ensure that we get those questions answered. If you'd
simply like to let me know what you think, you can do so at sam.liccardo@sanjoseca.gov.
We
understand that some hassles and inconveniences may result from this, so I'd
like to work with you to resolve those headaches in any way we possibly
can. We're all working together to find the most cost-effective and
environmentally responsible system of collecting your yard waste.
Thanks
for your patience through this process. Sam
Sam Liccardo Councilmember City of San Jose, District 3 200 East Santa Clara Street San Jose, California 95112 (408) 535-4903
