Pay For Trash: City Moving Away From "Free" Rear Yard Service

With the city of Creve Coeur on track to award a bid for a new city trash contract by early December, council members have endorsed a committee's plan that would see the next contract include rear-yard pickup service provided for a fee.

The service is currently paid for by the city as part of the current contract and is more expensive than the traditional curbside collection. The city held a pair of public forums and collected survey input from residents over the past few months. Monday night, Public Works Director Jim Heines told a joint work session of the city council and the Horticulture, Environment and Beautification Committee that an "overwhelming" amount of feedback came back from rear-yard customers who said they understood the need to pay.

A fee of up to $15, which is what the city of Des Peres charges, has been suggested. 

Given the city's aging population and residents who could have physical challenges, any new system will also have a way to provide rear yard service for free for those who cannot physically get their trash curbside.

"Are we trying to reinvent the wheel? How are we identifying, how are we going to be able to take care of them?," Ward 3 Councilman Robert Hoffman asked. City Administrator Mark Perkins suggested that one option could include providing a doctor's note or other certification that no one at the household was able to take care of the trash.

The city could still exercise a three-year option remaining on the current agreement with Republic Services. The existing deal expires June 30, 2014.