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Published on 08/04/1997 All articles from this issue

Purissima yard waste drop-off may close Oct. 1 under new LAH garbage program

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By Clyde Noel / Town Crier Staff Writer

After lengthy negotiation, the Town of Los Altos Hills arrived at an agreement with the Los Altos Garbage Company (LAGCo) on a proposal to pick up yard waste in residents' back yards as garbage.

The existing yard waste collection facility at the town corporation yard on Purissima Road will be closed upon initiation of the program. The new service can start as early as Oct. 1.

The current franchise agreement with LAGCo will expire June 30, 1998. Garbage company officials and town staff are working on a new five-year pact.

According to Jeff Peterson, Los Altos Hills city manager, the current rate residents pay for monthly charges would remain the same under the new program.

Bill Jones, LAGCo general manager, said the Purissima Yard Waste Drop-off Center will cease to operate once the program starts. Instead, resident customers will supply their own 32-gallon containers for yard waste. Under discussion is a proposed six-can limit to be set out every other week.

"We believe the use of customer supplied containers will allow for an effective, less expensive, cleaner and more efficient program today and in the future," Jones told the Los Altos Hills City Council last Wednesday.

At a later date, LAGCo will institute a town-wide mixed paper collection program. LAGCo will supply each residence receiving the service with one 18-gallon recycling container for mixed paper.

Peterson told the Los Altos Hills City Council several issues with the town remain unresolved. He said there should be an option to allow a bundle for yard waste, and to reduce the town-sponsored pickup of refuse from four times a year to three. This reduction would save the town approximately $10,000, he said.

Also under discussion is a pickup program to be developed when a resident produces a large amount of yard waste that will not fit into the maximum number of containers.

According to Peterson, there is still the question of the number of containers of yard waste allowed to be set out every other week. The pickup would alternate with the collection of recyclable materials. He suggested six 32-gallon containers set out on alternate weeks. The present recycling program for bottles and cans would continue.

Councilman Bill Siegel said the town should use caution in closing the yard waste program.

"The gardeners take a lot of yard waste to the Purissima facility, and I don't think six cans supplied by the resident can cover all the debris." Siegel said. "If we close the yard, then we should keep the four times a year, town-sponsored clean-up program.

"Before we sign anything with LAGCo, we should let the public know what we are doing," Siegel said. "We are not Los Altos, we are Los Altos Hills, and we have a lot more yard waste to get rid of from our one-acre lots."

In previous public hearings, residents asked for a half-can rate, but Peterson said the request was not feasible because the major cost is the labor.

"It costs just as much to pick up a half can as it does a full can," he said.