By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent
Just a few weeks ago, Paddock Lake residents were faced with a more than 9 percent waste hauling increase from John’s Disposal, adding $1.65 to their monthly bill.
“Their costs have gone up,” Paddock Lake Village Administrator Tim Popanda said at the Aug. 14 Committee of the Whole meeting. “While fuel and wages have gone up, what the company receives for recycled items has gone down. The demand for the paper, plastic and cardboard isn’t what it used to be.”
So Popanda got together with Trustee Kathy Christenson and Village President Terry Burns and hammered out changes to services that kept the monthly resident price the same.
“We had intended to keep the cost increase at the CPI, which is about 2 percent,” Popanda said, “but we found ways to have no increase.”
And residents will not see changes to their service, Popanda said.
“We didn’t really need to use five 30-yard dumpsters every year,” he said. “We will have one in the spring and one in the fall.”
Also eliminated was one porta potty. There still will be three at each boat launch, and those will be paid for with the user fees collected at each location.
The change that residents will see is no rebate for recycling on their disposal bills. The village will apply for a state recycling grant, and Burns talked about the possibility of using that for a rebate to residents, but several trustees mentioned that money is part of the village income.
The issue will be discussed further at a later date.