Fairfax County, Virginia, is considering changing how residents’ trash will be picked up. Many residents expressed their disapproval Tuesday at a town hall hosted by Supervisor Pat Herrity.
The proposal being considered by the board of supervisors would transition trash collection from a system where residents and homeowners associations choose a company for themselves to one where “Unified Sanitation Districts” are overseen by the county, which would choose a company and negotiate prices.
“You know, it just seems like to me, you guys are trying to sell me something that I already have,” said one resident, who led off the criticisms of the proposal at the town hall.
Dozens of others added to the opposition. Representatives from HOAs in particular spoke out against the idea.
“If this misguided proposal goes forward, and I hope it doesn’t, it is imperative that there be an opt out for HOAs — we don’t need any interference from Fairfax County wrecking what is working very well for us,” said one man, who represented a homeowners association in Clifton.
“It took us 25 years to find a company that’s responsible, and now we have them,” another HOA representative added. “Why do we want to give that up?”
Others said the ability to choose trash pickup themselves leads to more choices.
“We’re not all the same,” said one Fairfax County woman. “Some of us like two days, some of us like one day. Some like their leaves picked up. Some don’t care about that. Some want glass,”
“Some of us have pets. Some of us don’t. When we went down to one day a week, I could barely lift my garbage can because there’s so much cat litter and other things in it. So why should we give up what we have?”
Even if the plan to move to so called “Unified Sanitation Districts” overseen by the county is approved it isn’t legal to implement it for another five years.
“It’s unfortunate that we have this five-year window,” Herrity said. “There’s a reason for it, so that business can prepare, so the county can prepare. But there are a lot of unanswered questions.”
The county is taking a look at changing trash service, arguing that too many different private trash companies operate in neighborhoods and crowd streets. The county also said inconsistent pricing means some neighbors have the same service, from the same company, and pay a different price.
Under the proposal, residents would have their trash collected by private contractors who work with the county directly. No final decisions about types of services or frequency have been made.
The board of supervisors will host a public hearing later this month.
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