City Council talking trash Tuesday
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

The sharp rise in fuel costs has the city of El Campo hunting for a cheaper way to take out the trash.

Tuesday, Council is set to review a possible change in Allied Waste Service to the city switching from the current system to containers.

"We're concerned about the cost of fuel," City Manager John Steelman said. "This is a possible way to save money for customers."

No immediate changes are anticipated, he added, saying this is the preliminary discussion.

The city garbage contract is set to expire Oct. 1. "I'm afraid with escalating fuel costs, we're in for a big sticker," Steelman said.

Container service would allow a one-man truck to pick up municipal trash using a mechanical lift arm on the garbage truck.

The large containers could also allow the city to reduce the number of service days while still clearing the same amount of trash.

If approved by Council, a pilot program would be established first.

The El Campo City Council will meet in chambers, 315 E. Jackson, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday - 30 minutes later than the traditional time to allow for Council to gather after a workshop at the Civic Center (please see related story).

Council meetings are open to the public with time designated for citizen comments.

Other items going before Council include:

• Concerns over the possible renaming of three streets - Oliva, Stubbs and Lilly - will be addressed.

City staff and 9-1-1 addressing are trying to clear up the spellings or names of the three roadways - one of which has caused a dispute with the Isaacson Municipal Utility District.

IMUD directors are saying the crossroad Olivia is being mistakenly changed to Oliva by the city and want to stop the switch.

Lilly Street on the city's southwest side has three different spellings while Stubbs is listed also as Frank Stubbs in the Meisel Industrial Park.

• An amendment to the Industrial Services Agreement for D-A-M Services is anticipated.

City Council allowed industries on D-A-M Road including D-A-M Services to pay a fee equal to the tax levy rather than be included in recent city annexations along Hwy. 71 north.

For the city, the agreement allows for increased revenue while saving the cost of extending water and sewer lines along the private industrial roadway.

For the businesses, the fee is paid in lieu of facing the more stringent ordinances of the city.

The amendment clears up a minor issue with the original agreement.

• The annual audit reported will be presented for review.

• Reports on anticipated bond costs related to recent annexations is expected.

To extend water and sewer service to the Sandy Corner neighborhood and other annexed areas is anticipated to cost $3.8 million, City Manager John Steelman said.

New taxes and fees from annexed areas are projected to cover all but $60,000 of the annual $267,000 annual payment for the bond.

That's good news for city residents, he said, adding it means overall utility bills shouldn't be affected by line extensions into annexed areas.

• An executive session is scheduled to discuss real estate issues. The city has been in ongoing negotiations with the Chamber of Commerce in regard to a building lease agreement.

State law allows such discussions to take place behind closed doors, however, any votes must take place once Council returns to open session.