TONIGHT (10/26): Composting Seminar at City Hall

On City Council, I've seen how recycling efforts how keep our land fill dumping costs down.  So, when I read, several weeks ago, that Lakewood had hosted the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District's free seminar on composting, I thought we should bring it to Pepper Pike.

As you may already know from a recent mayor's letter and the City website's calendar, this seminar, which emphasizes the importance of rear-yard composting, and how easy it is to do so, will be given this evening (Wednesday, October 26) in the Council Chambers from 6:30-7:30pm. At this gathering, the Solid Waste District officials will provide helpful how-to-compost instructions and other information on rear-yard composting. They will also provide for sale two types of affordable composting bins as well as a kitchen collection container.

Why is this important?

The more residents we have composting, the more it helps lower the City’s land fill dumping costs, as well as help the environment. The seminar will last only one hour, during which you may also ask any questions you have on composting.

I will be there and I hope you will join me.

BONUS: Please - don't forget to vote. Election day is less than two weeks away. You can still request and vote by absentee ballot by going here, and of course you can vote on election day at your polling place in Pepper Pike (learn more here). In addition to voting on Pepper Pike Mayor, Pepper Pike Council (3 seats) and the Orange Schools levy, there are three statewide ballot issues on which you need to vote:

• State Issue 1 - Judicial Retirement Age Constitutional Amendment
• State Issue 2 - Referendum on Senate Bill 5
• State Issue 3 - Health Care Freedom Amendment

The 2011 State Issues Report includes the official ballot language, explanations, arguments for and against and the full text of the proposed constitutional amendments and referendum. You can read it at the Secretary of State's website, www.OhioSecretaryofState.gov when you click on the "Statewide Issues Information" button.

BONUS #2: Pepper Pike resident, Dr. Roxanne Sukol, wrote this wonderful item about composting and wanted to share it with other residents interested in doing the same.

Tonight's Band Concert, Rubbish Survey & More Updates & Information

From the email I sent out this morning:

Greetings!

Knowing that it's summer and it's August (how did that happen!?), I will again work to be succinct. First, a reminder about making sure you give the City your input on rubbish fees, then a list of upcoming dates/events.

RUBBISH FEE SURVEY

By now, every Pepper Pike household should have received, by regular U.S. mail or by email, a letter from Mayor Akers accompanied by a survey that seeks input regarding rubbish collection.  Please, please, please - email back your input, send it back by regular U.S. mail or drop it off at the City Hall.  We know residents care about this topic and want to achieve as high a return rate on input as possible. If you have any questions at all, please let me know or contact the Mayor directly.  Agenda minutes now posted on the City website for May and June will give you some background on the topic (see here) but again, please let us know if you have any questions and send in your input! THANK YOU.

Dates/Events:

1. TONIGHT, Pepper Pike Community Band Concert, rain or shine, 7:30pm, Pepper Pike Park or the Fire Station. You can read more here.

2. TONIGHT, Planning & Zoning meeting, 7:30pm, you can read the agenda here or see the attachment.

3. Wednesday, August 10, Road & Safety/Finance & Planning Meeting, 7:30pm, open to the public, at City Hall, no agenda yet available

Trash Talkin' in Pepper Pike

It's nothing new - from learning in the fall of 2009 that the refuse collection system would be reshaped and involve scooters, to the question now regarding a fee for service structure in order to protect the continuation of rear-yard pick up.

In fact, the issue of fee for services has been raised multiple times in the 18 months I've been on Council, starting well over a year ago when City Council Member, Gail Mayland, introduced the idea of exploring this in regard to garbage pick-up.  Then, last summer, resident, former City Council member and potential mayoral candidate Rick Bain, listed fees for service as an alternative revenue stream (alternative to an increase in the City's income tax rate) in this letter to the editor.  (For those who've been following City doings closely, the April 2011 Financial Review Committee Report is silent on fees for service related to rubbish removal - that document was signed off on by seven residents, including potential City Council candidate Jim LeMay.)

During the June 2011 City Council Meeting, the mayor raised the issue again.  His remarks in support of the need to implement a $25 per month fee for all Pepper Pike residents will of course be in that meeting's minutes.  But the discussion resulted in a desire by some Council members to survey the residents to determine the preference: if you had to pay an additional $25 per month to preserve rear-yard garbage pick-up, would you pay the fee to keep that service?

New Rubbish Collection System

The Chagrin Valley Times published this article about resident reaction to the changes being made in the garbage collection regimen.  The article was accompanied by a list of recycling rules which you can see after the jump ("after the jump" means after the words "Read more"). As soon as a new FAQ ("Frequently Asked Questions") for the new collection system is complete, the city website will be updated with that information. I've also provided below the most recent Service Department flyer (Winter 2009) that contains new program information.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave them in the comments, contact me or contact the Service Department.  You can call 216-831-8500 and ask for Service, or you can email the department at serviceATpepperpikeDOTorg (replace the word "AT" with the @ sign and "DOT" with a dot; by not inserting the entire email address in this post, I can keep down the spam).