Details considered in Pay As You Throw

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - West Lafayette is looking at standardizing garbage cans and enforcement of the Pay As You Throw trash program, where households would pay per bag of garbage.

West Lafayette Code Enforcement officer Rick Walker attended the Pay As You Throw work group. He asked those drafting the ordinance for one thing:

"Keep it simple is a good way to do it, not a lot of complication," said Walker.

Simplifying the ordinance will make it easier for him to know when someone is not obeying the rules. The work group also looked at whether to have household purchase a standardized toter. The group would need to choose one of three sizes: 36, 56, or 64 gallons.

"Requiring people to buy a toter is an economic decision and we would rather not have to but the city can't afford to buy toters," said Ann Hunt, a West Lafayette city councilwoman on the Pay As You Throw committee.

Any trash that fits into that chosen size would be picked up for a base fee. The group is looking at setting the fee between $10 and $16. Any extra garbage would require a sticker. The group will decide the cost for stickers, which is expected to be between 50 cents and $3. Some city council members asked the group to make sure the base price for garbage and stickers covers the cost of trash service, which is around $850,000. Now the work group must come up with the right combination of can size, base price, and sticker cost.

The West Lafayette City Council will vote on the Pay As You Throw plan on March 1, 2010.