Trustees approve single-hauler trash contract with Kimble; Residents present referendum petition, but trustee chair says issue can’t go on ballot

by Erica Peterson

Sept. 17 trustees meeting

Amid vocal protest from a standing-room audience, Hinckley Township Trustees voted unanimously to enter into a five-year contract with Kimble Recycling and Disposal to be the township’s sole trash hauler.

Trustee Chair Becky Chattin Lutzko gaveled the crowd several times during the three-hour meeting, asking audience members to stop interrupting and talking over officials and to refrain from making personal attacks against trustees. Police Chief David Centner also stood up once, asking a resident who had repeatedly been gaveled to not speak until public comments.

Before the vote, Fiscal Officer Martha Catherwood presented the trustees with a “referendum petition for municipality or home-rule township,” with more than 600 signatures, that asked to place the single-hauler issue on the ballot. She said residents dropped it off to her earlier that day.

“I would note that, for the record, Hinckley is not a home-rule township,” Lutzko said. “Hinckley is governed by the state of Ohio’s normal township statutes and is not a home-rule township.”

Because of that, “this is not an issue that can go on the ballot” in Hinckley, she said. “It’s not permitted under the law.”

She pointed to information from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office about advisory elections, or non-binding elections to gauge voter attitudes on a topic. “That’s what you guys have been talking about, essentially, a formal poll of the residents,” Lutzko said. 

Only municipalities can conduct such elections. The secretary of state specifically says townships cannot conduct advisory elections, she said.

Trustee clarifies contract, process

Lutzko thanked audience members for attending and “actively engaging in this process.”

“The good part is the engagement in the process. The negative part is that there was just a lot of negativity, which I think stems at least in part from some confusion and misinformation regarding what this contract entails,” she said.

Lutzko clarified the contract’s levels of service and pricing structure. Residents can choose between unlimited service and bag service. 

Unlimited service costs $21.75 a month for the first year of the contract and includes a trash cart and 2 cubic yards of space for additional trash.  

Bag service is “essentially a pay-as-you-go system,” Lutzko said. There is a $6.90 flat fee per month, plus $3 for every 30-gallon bag of trash. So, residents who put out one bag of trash a month would pay $9.90 a month, and two bags a month would cost $12.90.

Both services include a container for curbside recycling, and residents don’t have to separate recyclables. 

Lutzko said she heard from people who said they didn’t know the township was changing to single-hauler trash service. She said trustees talked about the issue in publicized, open meetings starting in September 2018 that were also covered by local media, including the Hinckley Record.

“I’ve heard your comments, and we’ve all heard lots of comments from people that are for this and people that are not for this,” she said. “What I would ask is that you keep an open mind and see how this actually works out before you rush to judgment.” 

Resident response

Several residents spoke after the vote, expressing frustration at not being able to speak beforehand. Many voiced their opposition to the decision, calling it a “trash tax,” saying they want to retain their choice of hauler and that the trustees are trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.

Some people shared concerns about certain aspects of the process.

Resident Jim McClintock questioned the validity of an online trash survey that the trustees conducted, saying there is no way to tell if people took it multiple times or if it was taken only by residents.

Trustee candidate Melissa Augustine said the minutes from a Nov. 20, 2018, trustee meeting don’t indicate that a unanimous vote was taken to create a solid waste district, which is required by Ohio Revised Code. 

Catherwood said there was a unanimous vote, that the omission was not caught when the minutes were proofed, and her handwritten minutes indicate a unanimous vote was taken. 

Also, a January 2019 Hinckley Record story on the meeting reports, “Hinckley Township trustees agreed unanimously to Trustee Ray Schulte’s proposed resolution to begin the process of creating a Hinckley Township Disposal District, allowing Hinckley to contract with one trash hauler for the entire township.”

Former trustee Ron Garapick questioned whether trustees gave enough notice of a Sept. 10 special meeting about the issue. Trustee Jim Burns said notice was given “within the limits of the law.”

Garapick also said he thought some of the negotiated terms in the contract that the trustees approved, including allowing those who opt for bag service to put bags in their own container, constitute material changes to the contract. 

Lutzko said she was not going to debate the legality of the contract. 

One resident asked why the trustees seemed to rush the process, saying that with all the opposition and the 600 signatures on the petition, they should have waited before approving the contract.

Lutzko said schedules included in the bid obligate the trustees to keep to a timeline.

“We made a decision on Aug. 20, when we accepted the bid of Kimble. And so we agreed to go forward and negotiate in good faith,” Lutzko said. “Kimble has negotiated in good faith, and now we are at the point of contracting.”

Resident Jim Bialosky spoke in favor of the decision, saying he was “shocked and a little dismayed at some of the comments made at the last several meetings and here tonight.” He said he was especially shocked by “the personal attacks” on trustees.

“Keep in mind the trustees are elected to make decisions on our behalf,” he said. “… The sad part is that people who are in favor of various decisions tend not to show up because of the negativity of the audience at times.”

Opting out

Resident Frank Oriti said he hasn’t paid for trash for 13 years and asked what the criteria are for opting out of the program. 

Lutzko said those who take their trash to the county dump in Seville or have a business in Medina County and already pay for commercial service could forgo residential service. 

“So if I have a business in Cuyahoga County, I can’t take it there?” he asked.

Lutzko said there are legal restrictions on removing trash from the county. 

“I already spend my money on a dumpster at work,” Oriti said. “I’m not going to do it again.”

Another resident wanted to make sure residents get plenty of notice to apply to opt out, since it is a first-come, first-served process limited to 5 percent of households, or around 150 people.

Lutzko said the trustees would meet with Kimble on Oct. 1 to set up the opt-out schedule. 

“The intent is to provide mailings, at Kimble’s expense, to all residents that give advance notice of what that period will be,” she said.

It will also be posted on the township’s website.

In other action:

• Schulte reported the township was awarded a $1,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Commerce for monument maintenance at Ridge Cemetery. 

• Trustees voted to spend $1,528 with AeroMark Co. to stripe a 1.3-mile stretch of Kellog Road from Hinckley Hills to Ledge roads.

• Trustees voted to cancel their meeting scheduled for Election Day and move it to Monday, Nov. 4, at 9:30 a.m., at Hinckley Elementary, as it’s their annual meeting at the school.

• Trustees concluded the meeting by going into executive session to discuss the employment and compensation of a service department employee. ∞

Featured Image photo caption: It was standing room only at the Sept. 17 Hinckley Trustees meeting, as the trustees voted unanimously to approve a single-hauler trash contract with Kimble, to take effect Feb. 1. Photo by E. Peterson