This article originally appeared here, at ffxnow.com
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is pumping the brakes on consideration of a plan for the county government take over management of trash collection services for all single-family neighborhoods.
“We need to do some more work,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said at the board’s meeting today (Tuesday).
In a joint request with Chairman Jeff McKay and Vice Chair Kathy Smith, who represents Sully District, Alcorn proposed that county staff take a number of steps before the board holds a public hearing on whether to consider creating unified sanitation districts:
- Develop potential options, including pros and cons of each option
- Conduct a public forum among staff, licensed haulers, and HOA representatives managing hauler contracts on behalf of residents with the goal of reaching agreement on the facts associated with the options; and
- Develop a process for Board consideration and ultimate implementation of each
“We need to take the time to clarify these things with the public a little better — take the time to do this right,” McKay said. “People want to know [the options] in more detail.”
Alcorn said his discussions with both county residents and private trash haulers revealed “a lot of questions and concerns” that in some cases stemmed from “inaccurate or incomplete information.”
Recalling the challenges that both private companies and public services experienced during the pandemic, Alcorn maintained that the county needs “a simpler and more efficient system” for trash collection that can regulate prices, reduce waste and accommodate newer services like composting.
“To me, it’s the Wild West,” he said of the current system for individual homeowners. “… We have neighborhoods where we have two or sometimes three different haulers going through the different neighborhoods collecting trash and recycling.”
Currently, single-family residences in Fairfax County get trash and recycling services in one of three ways:
Under a unified sanitation district, the county would phase out its own services and instead directly manage contracts with private trash haulers for all households. The centralized approach would give the county leverage over prices and incentives for meeting environmental goals, according to DPWES.
In order to move forward with a unified sanitation district, state law requires localities to give haulers a five-year waiting period between when they begin considering the change and actually implementing it.
In April, supervisors voted 9-1 to hold the required public hearing on June 24. Those in support of moving ahead said the five-year lead time would allow for all options to be considered, noting that the county still won’t be required to approve a move to government-run trash collection countywide.
But opposition emerged from both residents and the trash-hauling industry, with small businesses arguing that they would be unable to compete. Fairfax Workers Coalition, which represents some local government workers, also questioned the potential impact on the county’s own sanitation workers.
As a result, the date of the hearing was first pushed back to Oct. 14, and now has been postponed indefinitely.
County officials should have done a better job of explaining the initiative to the public, several supervisors admitted at the Aug. 26 meeting.
“We did not do a great job of coming up with multiple scenarios and being able to offer those to residents,” said Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman. “We need to be able to create a menu of options — some scenarios and possibilities.”
There are other options that “could achieve similar goals” with less upheaval, Alcorn said.
Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity, the lone supervisor to vote earlier in the year against moving forward with consideration of a unified trash district, said he appreciated the latest development.
“I’m happy we’re taking the time to be transparent,” he said. “It wasn’t ready for prime time.”
McKay said he hopes taking the time to evaluate a broader array of options will be seen by the community as the responsible thing to do. Stopping consideration of any changes would be politically expedient but a dereliction of duty, he said.
“The easy political thing to do is bury your head in the sand and walk away,” McKay said.
Any changes to the status quo in Fairfax County would not impact the towns of Herndon, Vienna and Clifton, which are responsible for setting their own trash collection policies.