By Taylor Boyd
Members of Stuart Town Council heard a proposal for policy changes to trash pick-up service, and approved a project that is hoped to rid the town of kudzu policy at its March 16 meeting.
Past discussions of using goats to remove kudzu in parts of town culminated, with council members approved $2,300 for the first year of service for a ‘goat-scaper’ which is similar to a landscaper, but uses goats.
Under the proposal, goats will be used to eat, and hopefully permanently remove, the kudzu plants.
Town Manager Bryce Simmons, who estimated the entire three-year project would cost around $6,900, also was directed to contact landowners for permission, and schedule times for the work to be done.
He also proposed policy changes to refuse pickup.
Simmons said the town currently offers ‘backdoor service’ for trash pick-up.
“With the rising gas prices, the fuel spent in our garbage truck and the available personnel that we have on behalf of the town, we may want to look at making trash pick-up more of a quicker service,” he said.
He recommends requiring that trash receptacles be visible from the road.
“I don’t really want to have town personnel to have to go into town residences or garages. It should be viewable from the road, easily accessible and identifiable,” he said.
When residents call to say their trash was not picked up, he also recommended that trash must be placed at the curb for pick up.
“The whole idea of this policy would be to decrease the amount of time that we spend on trash pick-up. I think that if we can reduce four days of trash pick-up down to three, that would be a great savings to the town,” he said.
Many of the town’s new residents are already used to curb side pick-up services, Simmons said.
“Because in most cities or localities, they require you to put your refuse at the curb. How else would a new hire know that they need to go around to the back of the house to pick up trash if they can’t see it,” he asked.
Rebecca Adcock said changing the policy would improve the town’s efficiency.
“Hopefully, we can maybe condense some things, and that way we’ve got more hands with all the water lines and things that need to be replaced, and coming into summer with mowing,” she said.
Simmons estimated that reducing trash pick-up to three days a week, and requiring trash receptacles to be visible form the road, could reduce the time spent doing garbage pick-up by at least 12-man hours weekly. The change also would reduce the town’s liability, he added.
In other matters, the council:
*Approved the meeting minutes as written.
*Heard an update on the wastewater treatment plant project.
*Heard an update about public works projects and repairs.
*Approved paying for light bar installation on two town vehicles at a rate of $613 per vehicle.
*Approved the purchase of 10 two-way radio units for $3,441.
*Approved giving Simmons the authority to spend up to $1,000 in security systems installation from EMI Security. Simmons said the cost for installation is $831 with a $24 a month monitoring fee.
*Approved a resolution giving Simmons or an assigned designee of The Lane Group, Inc. the authority to submit a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund application to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in the name of the town for construction funds through the bipartisan infrastructure law. The resolution also gives Simmons the authority to execute all funding related documents only upon review by and approval by the town.
*Entered into an agreement with Anchor Consulting to potentially apply for federal funds with a cost of $1,000 a month on a month-by-month basis.
*Paid the bills.
