New curbside recycling plan on Council's agenda

TEXARKANA, Texas - During a regular meeting Monday, the City Council will get its first official look at a proposal to restore curbside recycling for residents.

The Council will hear a first briefing on proposed amendments to the city's contract with Waste Management that would increase the residential garbage collection rate to pay for single-stream recycling services, which WM suspended last September. The rate increase would be smaller than originally proposed and phased in over the course of a year.

The city would assume a portion of the cost by reducing the number of free waste bin removals in the contract - for city projects such as demolition and neighborhood cleanups - from 250 to 100.

The remaining rate increase of $3.42 per month would be split in half, with one $1.71 increase taking effect by Oct. 1 and another taking effect a year later.

Because a Shreveport, Louisiana, processing plant stopped accepting mixed recyclables, WM since last September has been burying those items collected at Texarkana residences in its New Boston, Texas, landfill. The rate increase is needed to pay for transporting recyclables to WM's own processing facility in Little Rock.

A public hearing and vote on the proposal will take place during the Council's next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 8.

On Monday, the Council will conduct public hearings and vote on a pair of rezoning requests and a proposed ordinance that would regulate where helicopters can land in the city limits.

One rezoning request would allow construction of small houses intended to be rental properties in a South Texarkana neighborhood whose residents have objected to the change.

Rezoning the land from Agriculture to Single Family-3 would allow building small, two- or three-bedroom homes on 50-foot wide lots, Mashell Daniel, city director of inspections and code enforcement, told the Council Jan. 11.

More than a dozen neighbors of the lots in question, in the 2000 and 2100 blocks of South State Line Avenue and the 2100 block of Spruce Street, signed a petition objecting to rezoning, citing potential nuisances and disturbances. Because there is objection to the proposed rezoning, three quarters of the Council must vote for approval for it to take effect.

The other rezoning request would change 2800 W. 15th St. from Multiple Family 1 to Planned Development-Neighborhood service to allow mixed uses there such a flea market, and retail and wholesale for new and used goods.

The helicopter ordinance would require a landowner to acquire a temporary landing permit before helicopters can land on their property. Dedicated heliports and designated landing spots called helistops would not require the permit.

It comes after recent incidents when a private helicopter pilot landed in vacant lots near Margaret Fischer Davis Elementary School, causing safety concerns.

The Council will vote by consent on a contract worth more than $223,000 to replace an electrical power switch at the Millwood Water Treatment Plant. The switch is used to transfer the power supply for the plant from AEP/SWEPCO to an emergency generator. Quality Electric Co. of El Dorado, Arkansas, was the low bidder for the project.

The meeting will be held via online video conference and live streamed on the city's YouTube channel. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday.

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