THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 1, 1996 TAG: 9601300153
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Doris Smith says her 90-gallon garbage container is not sufficient and wants the city to sell her another one.
But her requests have been denied.
Since September 1994, when Norfolk's garbage collection system was fully containerized, the policy has been to lend one receptacle to each household. Additional containers can be rented at $5 per month each or $3.50 for a 60-gallon unit. The arrangement is not to Smith's liking.
``I do a lot of cooking and entertaining, and one can is not enough,'' explained Smith, an East Lynn resident. ``I'm not going to pay to rent a garbage can. I'll buy one, but they won't let me. I get the same story every time I call downtown, `to put my overflow in clear bags and call them and they'll pick it up.' But that's inconvenient, and the raccoons will have the bags all over the neighborhood.''
Lewis Jordan, Norfolk's superintendent of waste management, said there is not enough inventory to sell additional containers and that the rent charge helps cover costs.
``Needing another can means generating garbage above the average household,'' Jordan explained. ``The monthly fee works on the volume-based rate concept. If you dispose substantially more garbage than the average household, you should pay more. Charging $5 a month rent helps defray the city's cost.''
The heavy-duty, green plastic receptacles are specially designed to be compatible with Norfolk's fleet of semi-automated and automated collection trucks. Jordan said he does not believe the containers are available at any local retailers. He said fewer than than 100 residents have inquired about purchasing their own cans since containerization began.
Still, Jordan said that his department may take a look at allowing people to buy additional units.
``We will consider the idea and probably do some telephone surveys,'' Jordan said. ``But we would have to buy a substantial inventory, and that would have to come out of our budget, and you know how tight budgets are these days.''
The survey could begin in the spring. If the present policy is changed, Jordan said that containers probably would be sold at cost, about $50.
Smith, who has a family of four, said she has no problem with paying $50.
``I would have thought they'd be more than that,'' Smith said. ``I'd be happy to pay $50. With two cans we wouldn't have to cram the garbage in like sardines.'' by CNB