Title
Discussion and/or possible action regarding a Trash Pit Mitigation Program.
Brief History
The objective of this program is to restore City parkways to grade and limit excavation of pits by trash collection operations.
On September 27, 2011, the City Commission approved the 2011-2012 budget including two hundred fifty thousand dollars to implement a permanent maintenance solution using High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), recognizing that the City of Coral Gables had an ongoing parkway maintenance problem due to trash collection operations.
Throughout the residential neighborhoods of the City, numerous pits exist within the parkway. Based on a recent inventory, nearly three thousand seven hundred pits currently need restoration and the cost to do so varies based on material.
Pilot HDPE installations were monitored on the 2500 block of Country Club Prado with mixed results. Only one HDPE sheet remains and it has been reinstalled on multiple occasions. After evaluating the prototypes, the Public Works Department decided to consider other alternatives, including changes to trash collection operations. In addition to HDPE, the Public Works Department has considered and evaluated continuing filling holes with lime rock and an alternative material, recycled asphalt.
Based on cost effectiveness, material properties and aesthetics, the Public Works Department recommends moving forward to fill approximately two hundred and fifty trash pits with recycled asphalt fill, to gauge the response of the community, at an estimated cost of twenty eight thousand dollars.
Following observation and based on feedback, the Public Works Department will report its findings to the City Manager and move forward to fill the remaining pits with the best performing material. Based on existing funding, approximately sixty percent of all trash pits can be restored using recycled asphalt fill. Additional funding will be requested next fiscal year to restore the remaining trash pits and provide for continuing maintenance.
In addition to restoring the parkways, staff is seeking approval to explore an amendment to City Code Section 54-153 that would require non-occupants of properties to haul away yard trash rather than deposit on the parkway. Occupant cut yard trash would continue to be permitted to be disposed on the parkway and collected by the Public Works Department.