Starting Monday, March 20, 778 Households Will Begin Once-Per-Week Collection With City-Provided Containers
ROCKVILLE, Md., February 3, 2006—The City of Rockville will conduct two public customer orientation meetings to explain the new Refuse and Recycling Pilot Program that will begin for 778 designated households in the City’s Hungerford and Monument neighborhoods on Monday, March 20.
The meetings will be held Saturday, March 11, at 9 a.m. at the Elwood Smith Community Center, located at the corner of 601 Harrington Road and Mercer Road (behind Richard Montgomery High School) and Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at Rockville City Hall located at 111 Maryland Avenue.
The nine-month pilot program will test semi-automated, once-per-week, curbside only refuse and recycling pickup. Currently, Rockville manually picks up refuse twice-per-week and recycling one-per-week. Residents also now place recycling at the curb, but can place refuse either at the curb or in their back or side of their yards. The pilot program will evaluate how Rockville can increase cost-effectiveness, customer satisfaction, neighborhood cleanliness and recycling while reducing missed collections and worker injuries.
Each pilot program household has been mailed a letter identifying them as a participant and inviting them to attend the public meetings. Detailed information about the program, including a list of households selected to participate in the new program, is available on the City’s Web site at www.rockvillemd.gov/residents/refuse-pilot.
New special carts, one for refuse and one for mixed paper recycling, and informational materials will be delivered to each home the week of March 13-17. For the duration of the pilot program (March 20-December 2006), participating households will receive collection service once-per-week on Mondays, except Memorial Day and Labor Day. For those two holidays, collections will take place the Wednesday following the holiday (May 31 and September 6, respectively).
Customer experiences, collected through surveys at the beginning, middle and end of the program, will direct the future of the City’s refuse and recycling collection program.
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The gray, wheeled refuse cart and brown mixed paper recycling cart that will be supplied to each household will enable the City to use semi-automated refuse trucks, which utilizes trucks with mechanical arms. Refuse workers roll the special carts to the truck. Then, the mechanical arm empties refuse from the carts into the truck.
It is estimated that if all neighborhood refuse collections in Rockville were conducted under the provisions of the pilot program, the City would save approximately $381,000 annually. Refuse rates increased by 8.8 percent in FY 2005 and by 6.3 percent in FY 2006 to $29.50 per month. Cost projections for the City’s refuse and recycling program will be reevaluated after the pilot program.
“The pilot program gives us the opportunity to evaluate and fine tune many aspects of our City’s refuse and recycling program,” said Craig Simoneau, director of Public Works.
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, City representatives attended the Hungerford Civic Association’s meeting to introduce the pilot program and answer questions. At that meeting, citizens expressed an interest in having varying size refuse carts they could choose from based on the amount of trash they produce each week. If standard City carts are eventually provided to all City residents, the City hopes to learn the most appropriate sizes to offer to residents through the pilot program.
The Mayor and Council of Rockville approved the pilot program on Nov. 28 after a December 2004 survey of 2,200 households conducted for the City’s Department of Public Works showed that 72 percent of all respondents were supportive of the City making decisions that would keep refuse rates down. In the survey, 76 percent of respondents supported elimination of service other than collections at the curb to reduce rate increases and 55 percent supported once-per-week collections if provided with a special cart.
“I see this as a pilot, and whether we end up with once-per-week or twice-per-week service, at least we will have some information on which to make a decision,” said Councilmember Phyllis Marcuccio.
The pilot program will include the households of two members of the Mayor and Council, Mayor Larry Giammo and Councilmember Susan Hoffmann.
“I am looking forward to getting my carts,” Mayor Giammo said.
For updates on program progress, check the Rockville Web site (www.rockvillemd.gov/residnets/refuse-pilot). Information also will be available through the City’s monthly newsletter, Rockville Reports, on The Rockville Channel (Cable Channel 11) and by calling the refuse/recycling line at 240-314-8568.
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