$200 fee approved for junk collection

By Kevin O’Brien

Abbotsford residents who leave furniture and other junk items out on their lawns could be charged a $200 fee for the city to dispose of those items, under a new policy passed Monday.

The policy was recommended by DPW Craig Stuttgen, who said he regularly tags large garbage items left near the curbside, letting the property owners know that they need to contact Advanced Disposal for those items to be picked up.

“Well, six months later, the stuff’s still sitting there, and now it’s time to plow,” he said, noting that large garbage items get in the way of snow being piled up.

Under the new policy, the city will send property owners a certified letter giving them 10 days to remove any junk items or the city will pick them up and have them disposed of.

“If it’s a couch, I’d smash it with the loader and put it in our dumpster in small enough pieces and have it hauled away,” he said. “If it’s something big enough where there has to be a dumpster, that expense would be passed onto them.” Stuttgen pointed out that Advanced Disposal will haul away large items for free, but residents need to call ahead of time to schedule a pick-up. Otherwise, those items will sit out on the curb for an indefinite amount of time.

“No one should have to look at a couch in their neighbor’s yard for six months,” he said.

Advanced Disposal asks that furniture and other large items not be placed outside for more than 24 hours before pickup to avoid the items being waterlogged by rain, Stuttgen said.

The city’s fee for removing items needs to be high enough so that it encourages people to take care of garbage removal on their own, Stuttgen said.

Ald. Mason Rachu suggested a fee of $200 per item, including furniture, appliances and electronics.

“That price should really be irrelevant because there’s a free option available,” he said.

Council members discussed adding an extra $50 to get rid of electronics, but eventually decided to keep a $200 flat rate for all items.

According to the policy, residents will get a letter only after Stuttgen has given them information on how to contact Advanced Disposal for free removal.

Selenia Espino, an administrative assistant at the Abbotsford School District, was appointed to fill a Ward 4 vacancy left by former Ald. Dennis Kramer, who moved out of the city earlier this year. In her letter of interest to the council, Espino said her family moved to the city in the early 1990s, and she graduated from Abbotsford High School in 2003. She now has two children at the high school, and has worked for the district for 14 years.

“Growing up here in Abbotsford has given me an insight on how this city has grown over the years. I love to see the diversity of this place,” she wrote. “I think my background could bring some understanding to those who may not understand our culture.”

Espino, who is Hispanic, told the council that she “would love to bring some diversity to the council.”

Also applying for the vacant seat was John Hryndej, a local native who recently moved back to Abbotsford after serving 26 years in the U.S. Army. In his letter to the council, he said he has experience working at the federal, state, county and city levels of government.

Before the council voted on the appointment, Ald. Lori Huther asked both Espino and Hryndej if they are interested in running for a full term in April, when the current term expires. Both said they would be interested in obtaining the minimum of 20 nomination signatures needed to be on the April ballot.

The vote to appoint Espino was 5-1, with Ald. Roger Weideman voting to appoint Hryndej instead.

Other business

_ The council adopted a $2.1 million budget for 2022, with a property tax levy of $918,864 — a zero percent increase over this year.

_ The council approved a new design for the water tower, which is being refurbished and repainted next year. The tower will be repainted with a gray stem coming up to the bottom of the elevated bowl, along with “Abbotsford” and “Home of the Falcons” printed on the east and west sides of the tower. The council decided not to add any Falcon logos.

_ The council voted to pay $3,753 in membership dues to the Clark County Economic Development Corporation for 2022. The decision to pay the dues — which equals $1.50 per resident — comes after a few years when the city did not pay anything to the CCEDC for attracting and promoting businesses.

“I think we should probably start participating again,” Mayor Jim Weix said.

_ Resident Jim Colby told the council that he estimates 150 residences are not complying with an ordinance that requires sump pumps to be directly connected to the city’s storm sewer system. Colby questioned why he was forced to reroute his sump pump earlier this year when he says at least two council members are not following the same rules.

“I’m disappointed that they voted on enforce the ordinance on me when they were out of compliance themselves,” he said.

Colby said he feels like the city singled him out because he raised concerns with his neighbor burying a culvert and causing flooding on his block.

“My sump pump did not create the problem,” he said.

_ The council approved the following raises for the police department: $2.25 for administrative assistant Jessica Weich, bringing her wage up $21 per hour; $2 for Lt. Alex Bowman, bringing his wage to $28.97 per hour; and $1.79 for police chief Jason Bauer, up to $37 per hour.

_ The council approved an alcohol operator’s license for Thomas W. O’Neil at Fat Boys bar.

_ The council voted to give each city employee a $25 chamber of commerce gift certificate as a Christmas gift.

_ Stuttgen said the public works crew waited until 6 p.m. this past Sunday to start plowing because they can’t start working in the downtown area until parking is prohibited at 2 a.m.

“I know it stopped snowing at 3 o’clock, but we couldn’t come at 3 (p.m.) and plow because we wouldn’t have gotten to Main Street until 2 in the morning,” he said. “They would have been working overtime.”

Mayor Weix said he had no complaints about the city’s plowing.

“I feel they do an excellent job of taking care of the streets here in town,” he said.

_ The council voted to reject a homeowner’s request to place gravel in the alley between Sycamore and Hemlock streets so he can access a shed he plans on building. Stuttgen said putting gravel down will create problems with stormwater drainage.

“Putting gravel on something without a plan for where the water is going to go is creating your own problem,” he said.

Ald. Mason Rachu made a motion to reject the homeowner’s request.

“I personally don’t feel like we should gravel it because we’re opening a can of worms,” he said.

Stuttgen wondered if the council would consider allowing the homeowner to put gravel on the alley himself, “as long as their neighbors sign off on it.”

Ald. Roger Weideman said the city shouldn’t allow homeowners to put gravel on city-owned property.

Mayor Weix said the homeowner will have to come to a meeting if he wants to further discuss placing gravel in the alley.

“They’re going to have to come to a meeting, explain what they want to do and get signatures from the neighbors, so if they put granite on there and there’s puddles in the neighbors’ yards, they’re not going to come after the city to fix it,” he said.

NEW LOOK - Abbotsford’s water tower will be repainted with “Home of the Falcons” added underneath the city’s name. SUBMITTED GRAPHIC