At its regular monthly meeting, Watonga City Council determined that the city would and should pick up so-called green debris from its residents. The pickup will be on an every-other-month schedule beginning in November.
But, warned city attorney Jared Harrison, there are guidelines. For instance, if there is a sofa, bagged garbage, old pipes or other refuse in the pile, it will not be picked up. If for some reason the city believes the green debris has been brought into the city from outside city limits, there will be no pickup.
The crews will not come onto private property. The debris must be brought to the street. If for some reason, such as age or disability, the homeowner cannot move the brush pile to the street, or if there is a tree down in the back yard requiring alley pickup, the resident can call city hall and arrangements will be made on a case-by-case basis to remove the limbs and brush.
The council was concerned about getting the work accomplished on schedule and on time.
“It may require reallocation of staff and a change to our project lists and calendars,” explained City Manager Karrie Beth Little.
“And we want to make sure we have the time and the staff in place once we make this commitment to the community,” added councilmember Tina Willis.
The council did not set a week schedule for the pickup. Little said once that schedule was figured out, the town would be informed of when the pickups would begin.
In other business, the council heard a presentation by John Holland of Enterprise Fleet Management, an arm of the rental car giant.
The company, he said, would provide brand new vehicles to the city on a rotating lease basis. The existing city fleet of about 38 vehicles is well past its prime and many are more than 40 years old.
Enterprise furnishes acquisition services – buying the cars at prices not available even on state contract – as well as financing the automobiles. The city can pick and choose which services it wants to utilize, including maintenance and fuel services. Enterprise also offers resale on the vehicles as they age.
However, the selling points are that the city would still be able to use local service providers for fuel and maintenance such as minor repairs and oil changes, rather than sending the car to the dealership.
Another advantage is that Enterprise keeps tabs on the cost of new cars vs the sale price of the city’s existing autos. For example, if there is a Ford F150 pickup that the city paid $38,000 for and has used for four years, the company will know when it can be sold for $34,000 as a low mileage truck.
“We feel really confident this is going to be better for the city,” Little said.
The cars on municipal lease will have unlimited mileage and no wear or tear clauses. The city can determine the term of the lease and it retains the equity in the vehicles when they are sold.
When it came to the vote, the council determined to allocate $50,000 for the inaugural lease of seven vehicles and another $20,000 for the maintenance contract on them.
“If we do this properly, it will save the city money,” Holland said.