WASHINGTON CITY – Washington City officially joined the county’s curbside recycling program with a unanimous vote Wednesday night by the City Council at its regular meeting. Like St. George and four other cities in the county, city residents will have the opportunity to opt-out. During its Tuesday work meeting, the council also accepted the canvassed result of the city’s Aug. 11 primary election results.
Curbside Recycling
“This is the culmination of many months of discussion,” Councilman Thad Seegmiller said before the council passed the ordinance implementing the curbside recycling program in the city.
Washington City is now the eighth municipality to officially sign on to the BluCan Curbside Recycling program. Other cities include St. George, Santa Clara, LaVerkin, Toquerville, Leeds, Hurricane and Springdale. The latter two are the only municipalities that have made the program mandatory. The rest have provided an opt-out option for their citizens.
“This City Council has leaned heavily on letting the citizens opt-out,” City Attorney Jeff Starkey said.
The opt-out period will run from Sept.1 to Oct. 31. Citizens can expect to be notified through inserts mailed out with their utility bill. Other means will include posting a notice to the city’s website, bulletin board and the mayor’s newsletter.
“Once they’ve opted out, they’re out until they opt in or move,” Seegmiller said.
The opt-out will also stay on the name attached to the utility account, he said. So someone can move from one spot to another within the city boundaries and have the opt-out carry with them.
“The opt-out will run with the person, not the property.”
Overseen by the Washington County Solid Waste District, the curbside service will be billed through the city at a monthly base rate of $3.82 per household. The city may add an additional charge for administrative costs.
Residents can expect to start seeing BluCan containers delivered to their homes starting Feb. 1, 2016.
The Washington County Solid Waste District is hoping for 50 percent or more participation in the program countywide. If it drops below that, the program will be shelved. If the program should hit 70 percent participation, the monthly base rate could drop to $3.
More information about the curbside recycling program can be found on its website.
Primary election canvas
The City Council accepted the canvassed results of the Aug. 11 primary election during a work meeting Tuesday.
Unofficial counts following the primary placed Washington City’s voter turnout at 13.3 percent with 2,269 ballot casts. The canvassed results showed a 14.8 percent voter turnout with a total of 1,407 ballots counted. Washington City has 9,533 registered voters.
How people voted:
- Ballots cast at polling locations Aug. 11 account for 7.86 percent of voter turnout, or 749 ballots
- Absentee ballots account for 4.69 percent, or 447 ballots
- Early voting accounts for 1.87 percent, or 178 ballots
- Provisional ballots account for 0.35 percent, or 33 ballots
While the six contenders for City Council remain the same, the official tally placed Bill Hudson above Jean Arbuckle by seven votes.
The breakdown of primary votes is as follows:
- Kolene F, Granger, 708 votes
- Troy Garth Bellston, 629 votes
- Jeff Turek, incumbent, 503
- C. Bradford Allen, 447 votes
- Bill Hudson, 362
- Jean Arbuckle, 355
Related posts
- Primary election canvas is in; future of Ridge Top Complex yet in planning
- St. George signs onto BluCan curbside recycling program
- Southern Utah 2015 primary election results
- 9 candidates vie for Washington City Council seats
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