Parkersburg City Council President Andrew Borkowski, left, speaks during Tuesday's council meeting as Councilmen Zak Huffman, center, and Mike Reynolds listen.

PARKERSBURG – Parkersburg City Council voted 7-2 to approve the first reading of an ordinance approving a contract with Rumpke of Ohio for a subscription-based curbside recycling program Tuesday.

Councilwoman Wendy Tuck and Councilman Chris Rexroad cast the dissenting votes on the ordinance, which had been tabled during a Jan. 6 special meeting. Then, council President Andrew Borkowski said he thought the city could come up with a more equitable plan than the proposal that would have charged those who wished to participate in curbside recycling $15.25 a month.

Borkowski said Tuesday the new plan would restore curbside recycling using the best possible approach.

“We determined that the best compromise would be to require citywide participation at a very small rate of $1.50 with those choosing to recycle paying three more dollars each a month,” he said. “(Finance Director) Eric Jiles confirmed with Rumpke that this approach would satisfy the current contract terms and the contractor would bill the city.”

Mayor Tom Joyce said he applauded Borkowski and Jiles for their efforts in securing the recycling bid with Rumpke.

Sections were roped off in council chambers during the Parkersburg City Council meeting Tuesday night. Press and audience members were required to stay outside the newly cordoned areas. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“What this ordinance does and what this contract does is … restores a service that we are statutorily obligated to provide for our residents,” Joyce said.

Jiles said the city would be saving money by entering the contract and recycling rather than sending more trash to the landfill.

Tuck called Rumpke sales representative Nick Rupert to the podium to describe what the contract and services would look like for residents.

Rupert said their vehicles would come through every other week to collect recycling from the green Rumpke bins that would be provided for service users.

Rupert described all of the recyclable items Rumpke accepts and what residents would be required to do to ensure their items were properly sorted for the trucks to pick up.

“We don’t want bags and we don’t want trash … if he (Rumpke drivers) notices there’s trash in it … he’s going to tag it,” said Rupert.

He said if items aren’t properly sorted or there is noticeable trash in the recycling bins, the drivers will simply tag the bin to let residents know the drivers came through but the bin contained trash or unrecyclable items.

Councilman Dave McCrady said another reason this contract would be a good idea was because Rumpke accepted more plastics and recyclable items that other services, including the city’s which was suspended in May due to staffing shortages.

McCrady also praised the new, multimillion-dollar, 250,000-square-foot Rumpke recycling facility in Columbus.

Councilman Rob Moore said based on factors such as operation costs, revenue and equipment, this was the most feasible option.

“The only small increase was in working to encourage higher participation rates,” he said.

Some residents expressed their displeasure with the voting process on the recycling contract during the public forum, as well as frustration with only being able to discuss items on the agenda and having limited time to share their comments.

Council also approved the first reading of the ordinance to amend municipal code to reflect the proposed recycling contract and the sanitation contract. The amended language would include a slight reduction in the monthly sanitation fee from $22 to $21.

The ordinance passed 8-1, with Tuck opposed.

Both the recycling contract and sanitation amendment ordinances will be on final reading at council’s Feb. 24 meeting.

The first reading of the ordinance to address membership composition of the Parkersburg Tree Commission passed unanimously.

The ordinance removes the city arborist position, which no longer exists, from the commission’s membership and replaces it with a sixth individual nominated by the mayor.

“It’s a very active committee and everybody on it is very committed to Parkersburg,” said Tuck, who is a member of the commission. “I feel so supportive of this ordinance because I think we do need those other members of the community to fill that committee out.”

Tuck said she wouldn’t be opposed if they did find someone to fill that specific position but it would benefit the city and the tree commission if they all worked together rather than having one designated person.

Council meetings are streamed live on YouTube and can be accessed by clicking the link on the council’s website.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com