From waste collection to tobacco products: Athens City Council talks big changes to come for Athens residents

Throughout an evening containing a special session for approving ordinances and discussing plans and projects for 2024, two issues rose to the top as the most discussed at the Athens City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 13. Talk of switching from local solid waste maintenance company Athens-Hocking Recycling Center (AHRC) to Rumpke, which according to its website is “one of the nation’s largest waste and recycling companies,” and passing legislation that would require businesses to be licensed to sell any kind of tobacco product captivated councilmembers and civilians alike. 

After concluding the special session, the Committee of the Whole presented the solid rate wastes under the soon-to-be-made official contract with Rumpke. Administrative Director Andy Stone stated that it was a “difficult decision” and that although AHRC has served the Athens community well, Rumpke offered the lower price for the city to purchase uniform bins. He recalled two instances in past years where Athens was offered a lower bid than what AHRC charged them by a competing company and that the council declared an emergency to halt the bidding and allow the administration to write a higher-priced contract with AHRC. He gave an example of this practice that occurred this past summer, when the administration put $250,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds toward the garbage fund to avoid raising rates and continue working with AHRC.  

During his statement, Stone vocalized his concern about switching to a contract with Rumpke because of the possibility of it creating a monopoly in solid waste collection, as Rumpke recently bought the nearest landfill, which could cause Athens residents to end up paying more if the company decides to increase rates. In response, he said that he plans to “work with city staff and industry professionals to explore the feasibility of returning solid waste collection to be a government function either operated completely by employees of the city or as a partnership with other communities under a Council of Governments (COG).” He continued to explain that if an opportunity came up where Athens could move away from using a private company, he would be open to exploring it. 

However, the city needs to find a way to raise rates to maintain the garbage fund. Stone stated that under the current emergency waste contract, the city was paying $175,000 for solid waste collection, which is $43,000 more than ARPA funds brought in. Stone went on to read out the suggested cost increases that would be made to meet the costs of the new contract and sustain the garbage fund. He said that the one-can rate would increase by $7.00 to $23.53 per month, a 36% increase to the rates people in the franchise district pay and the recycling support fee would increase by 25¢ to be $5.75. 

The prospect of switching from AHRC to Rumpke upset many residents who attended to explain their hesitance toward the change. Beginning with AHRC’s Human Resource Manager, Christa Cummings, civilians each took to the podium to speak their minds. In response to what would happen to AHRC if the council went through with Rumpke’s contract, Cummings stated, “We will have massive layoffs and we will not have the same resources we do now in six months.” 

Other residents spoke up against the change from AHRC’s services to Rumpke’s, expressing their preference for keeping solid waste movement local, their concern over giving Rumpke a monopoly in the field, and their overall disappointment in the council’s decision. One civilian voiced their confusion over how Rumpke was considered more sustainable when using their services would require more trucks to transport Athens’ waste to Columbus, which would only add to carbon emissions. 

The council also heard from Molly Jo Stanley, speaking on behalf of the Ohio Environmental Council who urged the council not to make the switch to Rumpke by reminding them that according to the Ohio Revised Code Section 153.09, just because the city has the option of forging a contract with the lowest bidder does not mean they have to if the lowest bidder does not have the community’s best interest in mind. “AHRC is the best option for the city because it helps us move toward those sustainability goals…this is an opportunity to display their [the council’s] continued commitment to the city of Athens and our region’s sustainability goals,” Stanley said. 

Following the opinions given by residents, Councilmember Solveig Sjpeldnes noted that the council had only just received the documents that day to switch from AHRC to Rumpke, but now that she had heard both sides, expressed her worries about allowing Rumpke to hold a monopoly over waste management and what it would mean for Athens in terms of the prices the city would pay for waste removal. 

The other issue heavily debated by the council was Councilmember Sarah Grace’s draft ordinance that would add a section to the city code that would license businesses selling any kind of tobacco product. The legislation would require licensed businesses to go through compliance checks conducted by the health department, as Ohio is a Tobacco 21 state, meaning that only those ages 21 and older may use tobacco products. These compliance checks would ensure that businesses are not selling tobacco products to underage people. In her legislation, Grace mentioned that researchers had shown that Ohio was behind in following through on compliance checks and that her ordinance would hope to improve that. Ohio does not have a statewide policy requiring tobacco vendors to apply for licenses and leaves the decision to pass legislation for it up to individual municipalities. Grace hopes her legislation will help prevent underage people from getting access to tobacco products. 

Grace’s legislation would also issue violations to businesses caught selling to underage people, selling from vending machines or selling without a license, and associated penalties for these violations. A first violation would lead to at least a $500 fine, a second violation within three years would come with a $750 fine and a suspension of the business’ tobacco license for a minimum of seven days and a third violation would be a $1,000 fine and the permanent suspension of the business’ license for 30 days. If an establishment receives three violations within three years, they would be fined $1,500 and be banned from distributing tobacco products for three years, and if the city deems it appropriate, the denial of renewal of their permit. 

While most of the council appeared to be in support of Grace’s legislation, some brought up some questions they had regarding the ordinance’s specifics. Councilmember Ziff, though he expressed support for the legislation, took issue with the minimum seven days license suspension upon receiving a second violation within three years, citing his concern that the vague language could result in small businesses being put out of business if they are given unreasonably long license suspension periods, especially for businesses who main profit is made through the sale of tobacco products. 

The effects of both these large changes to Athens policy will likely not be felt by citizens until 2024, but the council’s response to the opinions they heard will be closely noted as the end of the year ticks nearer.