| Updated: 2/09 10:31 am |
Published: 2/08 9:34 pm
|
Wednesday evening, Tulsa City Council chambers were packed with councilors and citizens getting an earful about trash.
The meeting was a chance for Tulsans to voice their opinion about the city’s new trash contract that likely will be awarded on Thursday.
The city’s trash board spent about 45 minutes explaining why a new system with carts is the way to go, but most people at the meeting had already made up their mind they don’t like the new cart system.
Others in Green Country though can’t imagine life without their trash carts.
“We can wheel it right out to the curb and it works very well,” Trash cart devotee Matt Jones told FOX23.
Jenks has been using trash carts for about ten years. Residents get one large cart, and are responsible for getting it to the curb once a week. It’s the same system and schedule that’s been a hot topic of debate in Tulsa for weeks.
“If I didn’t have the cart, I wouldn’t know what to do with the trash. It’s plenty big enough, it holds everything I need, so I think they’re great,” Jenks mom Terri Brown said.
Many at Wednesday’s meeting don't like the idea of the carts, but it’s too late.
Tulsa’s trash board is adamant that it will be going with the cart system after the current trash contract runs out this summer. On Friday, city councilors will vote on giving the Tulsa Public Facilities Authority the go-ahead to pay for the carts proposed under the new refuse and recycling program.
“I think it’s a great way to get it out there, and it sure beats the old fashion system where you had to pick up and carry it, so the wheels work great,” Jones said.
The problems with carts are more funny than frustrating Brown said.
“Sometimes they’ll get switched up with a neighbor’s, and they’ll be some smelly stuff at the bottom that we didn’t put there, but other than that, that’s the only thing we’ve noticed.”
The folks in Jenks encourage everyone in Tulsa to give trash carts a chance.
“People just kind of don’t like change and they need to give it a try before they get upset about it,” Jenks resident Steve King told FOX23.
Tulsans said they have their reasons for not liking the new system.
“ I don’t like the idea of changing or having it rammed down our throats,” Roy Saunders said.
“(I don’t like the carts) because the cost is going up,” a fired-up Nancy McKee told FOX23.
Linda Phillips said her reason is that “it’s just that I am very satisfied with what I have; it’s worked for 32 years. I just don’t understand the need to change now.”
After Thursday’s financing vote, FOX23 has learned the city will make a final determination on which trash contractor to select sometime on Friday
At the meeting, the city did lay out how much it expects the new trash service to cost residents each month.
Trash picked up curbside from a Tulsa home will cost residents $15.52 a month for a 95 gallon cart, $14.02 a month for a 65 gallon cart, and $12.52 a month for a 35 gallon cart. For trash picked up from a cart in someone’s backyard, the costs rise to $19.47 a month for a 95 gallon cart, $17.97 a month for a 65 gallon cart, and finally $16.47 a month for a 65 gallon cart.
In the first months of the plan, residents will be given a 95 gallon cart for trash and another cart of the same size for recycling. After a trial period, residents can then pick which size cart will work best for their household.
