RECYCLING CANNED

The ambitious yet controversial plan that would have mandatorily required all waste haulers to provide recycling services to all residents of Parkville has stalled, The Luminary has learned.

On Thursday evening, newly elected Ward 3 Alderman Kendall Welch confirmed to The Luminary that she sent an e-mail to fellow aldermen and city staff saying she would not push for the plan, a concession to the outspoken opposition to the proposal at the July 5 public hearing on the matter.

 “I have decided to not have a recycling ordinance at this time,” Welch, the chair for Parkville’s environmental committee wrote, adding that she did not expect the level of opposition faced at the hearing regarding the plan.


 Welch, generally credited with kick-starting the successful curbside recycling programs in place at The National and Riss Lake subdivisions, had made expansion of citywide recycling a centerpiece of her campaign.

Specifically, Welch recommended that all four Parkville current trash haulers – Allied Waste, Blacksher Trash Service, Defenbaugh Industries, and GW Trash Services – and any future hauler be required to provide curbside trash and recycling service to Parkville residents billed as one base rate, resulting in either an estimated savings of $10 or increase of $5, depending on various market factors.

Another option would have had Parkville settling on a single hauler. That proposal, while not preferred by Welch, has also been abandoned, she said.

Originally presented by the newly elected Welch at the June 21 meeting of the board, Welch pointed to a 2009 survey that stated citizens had expressed a want and need for curbside recycling in a recent survey. In a powerpoint presentation she said it was “important to educate and build awareness among the masses regarding the benefits of recycling, especially on a global level.”

 That message was not well received at the local level, however.

 “We are capable of making our decisions,” said longtime Parkville resident, Virginia Ground, a professed customer of  Blacksher Trash Service for the past 50 years
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Main Street resident and local landlord Carolyn Elwess said that she felt the proposals were similar to a home owner’s association and advocated against the new restrictions.

“What’s next, a city approved plumber that we all have to use?”

 Blacksher Trash Service has offered recycling along with trash pickup at no charge for the past five years, costing the company approximately $30,000, but not every hauler is able to afford the investment to implement this service.

Charles Bax, who owns GW Trash Services, said that his company is simply too small to afford another truck to offer recycling. He estimates that it will cost his business roughly $50,000 to provide recycling for his 200 Parkville customers. “My company has been there for 50 years and I’m not real happy,” Bax told The Luminary.

Several residents complained that this issue represented a larger governmental interference and threatened civil liberties. Bluffs resident, Jim Copland said he sees the national agenda coming down on quaint Parkville. “The seeds are being laid to make mandatory recycling,” said Copland.

“We don’t need government [involvement] right now,” voiced Charles Jack.

 In this instance, it would appear, Parkville’s voice was heard.

-- Rachel Atwood contributed to this article.