Athens City Council approved legislation authorizing new "smart" recycling containers to be installed on streets Uptown.
Uptown Athens might be getting a little bit "smarter" soon.
In a 6-1 vote Tuesday evening, Athens City Council voted to lease 24 solar-powered recycling or refuse compacting containers.
The company, Bigbelly, that will be leasing the containers to the city will charge $50,000 per year for the "Bigbelly Stations." According to Bigbelly's website, the stations will monitor and report station fullness remotely as well as provide data, such as the frequency of use, for each individual station.
The stations the city will lease are the bigger of the two varieties offered by the company and will hold 150 gallons of litter with automatic compaction when a station is full.
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said he supported the legislation, including that the environmental impact does not end with increased recycling. Trash collectors will be able to make fewer stops based on the data received from the system, which will mean fewer emissions from the garbage trucks.
Patterson also pointed out that trash citation fees from 2015 alone — $86,000 — would more than pay for the lease.
Although a majority of council agreed with Patterson in supporting the legislation, Councilman Pat McGee, I-At Large, said he found himself in a "difficult spot" by being in opposition, despite being an environmentalist.
"If you really want to do something for recycling in this town, why don't we require all businesses to recycle?" McGee said, adding several residents have discussed the lack of recycling in apartment complexes with him, as well. Ultimately, McGee was the single dissenting member of council.
A nine-month overhaul of nonunion city employee fringe benefits concluded Tuesday evening with the passing of legislation that evaluated the pay structure and compensation plan for nonunion employees.
"By God, it's time to get this thing done," Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, who proposed the legislation, said. "That's all I'm going to say about it."
Absent from Tuesday's meeting was a formal discussion of the disposable bag checkout fee legislation Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran, D-At Large, proposed at the May 23 meeting.
"I thought that one needed more time," Cochran said, adding she was exploring possible amendment to the legislation.
Debbie Walker, clerk for Athens City Council, said because Tuesday's meeting was a special session in which legislation was both proposed and committee meetings were held, council members chose whether to have their legislation read.
In Athens, proposed legislation usually has three readings before council votes to make it law.
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