The Pierre City Commission heard a proposal to change how the city handles processing and disposal of yard waste and recyclable materials at the city’s solid waste facility.
Currently, the City provides yard waste and recycling bins anyone can access– whether residents or not.
City Engineer John Childs says because the recycling market has changed, he’s asking the Commission for permission to establish fees for non-resident users.
Childs says Pierre is currently enclosing its recycling and yard waste bins and asking the Commission’s approval to charge non-Pierre residential utility customers $3 to access those drop off bins.
He says Pierre residential utility customers will be provided an access card to use the drop off bins.
Childs says with the change of the recycling market, Pierre residents are currently subsidizing recycling and yard waste operations for non-Pierre residents who use the City’s drop off bins. He says the recycling container by Dakotamart will be removed once the new facility and access card system are finished.
If the use fee is approved by the City Commission, non-resident Pierre users will need to pay per load to use the bins. Just as before, commercial users will need to cross the scale at the baling facility to pay for disposal.
The Commission is scheduled to vote on the change at next week’s (Aug. 6) meeting.
