LAKEPORT — City residents will soon notice a 33-cent increase on their monthly garbage bills after the Lakeport City Council Tuesday authorized Lakeport Disposal to adjust customer rates because of higher gate fees at the landfill and transfer station.
The agreement between the city and its franchise hauler allows Lakeport Disposal to be reimbursed for tipping fee increases at waste disposal sites. The company hauls about half of city”s solid waste to the county-owned landfill and half to the privately-owned transfer station.
Lakeport Disposal will be charged $1.25 per ton more this fiscal year for waste disposed at the Eastlake Landfill and $4.95 per ton more at the Lake County Waste Solutions transfer station.
An average of the two increases was used to calculate pass-through. The rate for a 32-gallon bin will increase by 1.7 percent, going from $19.68 monthly to $20.01, because of the pass-through.
“While it does increase local rates, it is not a rate increase that benefits Lakeport Disposal,” City Attorney Steven Brookes wrote in a memo to the council.
The council voted 4-0 to adopt a resolution authorizing the rate increase. Mayor Suzanne Lyons was absent from Tuesday”s meeting.
Craig Butcher, vice president of Lakeport Disposal, said he doesn”t expect customers to see an increase on their bills until September.
The company also plans to discuss two other potential increases, the annual Consumer Price Index adjustment and a new fuel surcharge, with the council at its next meeting, Butcher said. If both of those adjustments were approved, the monthly cost of a 32-gallon bin would become $21.37, according to Butcher.
Earlier in the meeting, Jim Steele, a consultant for the county, presented information about a cooperative agreement and uniform response plan for law enforcement agencies regarding invasive species prevention in Lake County waterways.
“We”re all concerned about the introduction of the quagga and zebra mussel into the lake,” Steele said.
The plan, in part, outlines how various law enforcement agencies should respond to possible violations of the county”s water vessel inspection program.
The plan has the support of agencies in Lake County, including the Lakeport and Clearlake police departments, the Lake County Sheriff”s and District Attorney”s offices, the state departments of State Parks and Fish and Game and the Bureau of Land Management, Steele told the council.
“The Lakeport Police Department intends to be part of implementing the uniform response plan,” Sgt. Kevin Odom said Thursday.
Steele said Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen, who didn”t attend Tuesday”s meeting, asked him to present information about the plan to the council and answer any questions council members might have.
The council took no action regarding the plan.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
