Dateline: June 17, 2004

City votes to charge for tree limb chipping

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise  

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen voted last Tuesday to begin charging contractors and utility companies who bring tree limbs to the city’s recycling center.

Commercial customers will be charged $1 per running foot per trailer. A 16-foot trailer would cost $16 to dump.

City Administrator Sean Pate said blades on the city’s chipper are having to be replaced every couple of months and running the chipper is consuming 30 to 35 man-hours per month.

“And that was in our slow season,” Pate said.

City officials consulted with neighboring towns and found that no one else is currently charging for this service, but several are reported to be considering it. Alderman Michael Tibbets said the city should not be subsidizing local tree-trimming businesses by providing them with free dumping, and other board members agreed.

Residential customers can still haul their own tree limbs to the recycling center free of charge.

In other city business, the board discussed the solid waste grant received to build a steel storage building at the recycling center. Due to increased material costs since the time of the grant applications, the city will need an additional $3,600 to build the facility. The $8,000 in grant funds has to be expended by August of this year. The board voted to spend the extra $3,600.

Pate discussed the need to amend the budget, and the board agreed to look at that issue at the next meeting.

After some discussion, the board voted to close City Hall all day Friday, June 11, in recognition of the National Day of Mourning for President Ronald Reagan.