Columbia city leaders are looking for volunteers to use roll carts instead of trash bags.
The volunteers would take part in a pilot program that would give feed back on the city’s proposed roll cart system.
Columbia city council members are expected to allow 600 volunteers to take part in a roll cart pilot program. The goal is to have 100 volunteers in each of Columbia’s six wards. The volunteers would replace their trash bags with roll carts and give city leaders feedback on their experiences. City leaders would lease an automated truck and 600 roll carts for the pilot program.
Columbia Public Works spokesman Steve Sapp said, “We’re looking at various demographics and topography areas. We want people who are in high traffic areas, people who are on cul-de-sacs, people who think they like roll carts and people who think they don’t like roll carts. We’re looking for a broad spectrum of participants.”
Council members are expected to approve next year’s city budget next month. Part of the proposed budget calls for about $5 million to buy 44,000 roll carts and ten automated trash trucks. Some city leaders have questions about automated trash collection. They want to wait until the roll cart pilot program is completed before moving forward. Third Ward City Councilman Gary Kespohl said trash bags are cleaner than roll carts.
Kespohl said, “When they dump those carts, if there’s a wind at all and we don’t have a bag in that roll cart, we’re going to have trash everywhere just like we used to. That’s a disadvantage that I see that no one has talked about, yet, to having roll carts.”
Kespohl is not optimistic about the switch from trash bags to roll carts. He said most of the people in his ward are against the idea. City leaders are confident they will get 600 volunteers for their roll cart pilot program.
With council approval, Columbia’s roll cart pilot program would take place between January and June of 2013.
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