Letter: Concerns about new refuse collection plan in South Lake Tahoe

Dear Editor, Residents in the Al Tahoe Firewise community and throughout the Tahoe Basin have worked extremely hard to reduce combustible fuels on their properties in order to mitigate the risk of wildfires. Every spring and summer, with the help of South Tahoe Refuse’s current weekly pickup practices, we have cleared multiple bags or cans of pine needles and cones, vegetation, and tree limbs in order to protect our homes and the community from wildfires. This fuel reduction also qualifies our nationally recognized Firewise district for fire insurance discounts.

We are concerned about a franchise agreement with South Tahoe Refuse, which has already been approved by four members of the Council, allowing only one (or two) 95-gallon carts (equal to only 3 bags of trash) to be picked up every other week. Most residents clear anywhere from 20 to 100 bags of debris each fire season, and this contract, as currently written, limits our options to effectively dispose of fire fuels during this critical time. It puts an unrealistic burden on the residents to find effective alternatives for yard waste disposal. And, it will not help us comply with our City’s “fire resilience strategic plan” to lessen the risk of wildfires, if residents are discouraged from cleaning up and ridding their yards of potential fire hazards.

In our opinion, this contract needs to be renegotiated with clear specifications that include dedicated days and weeks of multiple pickups

of cans and bags of debris, especially during the time when most “spring and summer” clean-up is occurring. No additional expense like having to buy special garbage cans or bags or having to personally drive to the refuse site or call to arrange for disposal of “extra” waste, should be imposed on resident ratepayers. The additional 10 percent cost on bills that we will soon see, and the two more rate increases over the next five years, equates to a greater financial burden with less service.

We understand this collection change is a State mandate, but Tahoe has multiple issues that should have been evaluated and considered before this agreement was approved. Other California cities/communities are not impacted by living in Wildland Urban Interface “severe fire risk regions,” or have snow and bear problems common to our area. And, we are disheartened by the City’s failure to hold a city-wide community meeting where these issues could and should have been addressed prior to the contract being approved. A meeting would have allowed citizens to voice their concerns as well as have a better understanding of all components of this complex agreement that appears to lack adequate solutions when it is implemented next year.

There are other reasons why residents, especially seniors, have problems with this agreement. These large cumbersome carts will be difficult to maneuver out to streets that “may or may not” be cleared by snow plows, have large berms, or are narrowed by plows to less than one lane. These totes that are supposed to be “bear resistant” could be “senior resistant” as well, and impossible to open, even to relatively “fit” older adults. And then there is the storage issue, with or without snow. Since many of our older homes do not have garages, these carts will be left out in the open as large “eye sores” or “animal targets.” And, especially in the winter, adequately cleaning and sanitizing the 65-gallon “wet waste tote” to reduce food odors, will be nearly impossible, if/when outside water connections are shut off.

Please note we are not against change. But, since “one size does not fit all” in California, this agreement needs to be renegotiated to incorporate provisions or exemptions that will not be counterproductive to our unique environmental needs in Tahoe.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mike and Marlene Ettl
Residents, South Lake Tahoe