City Rejects Plan to Keep Tight Lid on Garbage : Camarillo: Council feared trash-can measure could prompt illegal dumping and turn some residents into refuse vigilantes.

Camarillo residents can continue to leave the lids up--on their trash barrels, that is--after a City Council debate over a measure that would have required the lids of all trash cans to be firmly closed.

Behind the seemingly frivolous discussion Wednesday was the council’s concern for fine-tuning the city’s trash fee, which charges customers according to the amount of trash they produce.

In the end, council members rejected the tight-lid requirement, saying they were afraid the rule could prompt some residents to engage in illegal dumping and turn others into trash vigilantes.

At stake is the survival of the city’s variable-rate strategy, which is intended to coax customers to reduce the amount of trash they dispose in landfills.

“The volume-based rate structure is compromised by customers who regularly put out large amounts of extra refuse,” John Elwell, the city’s director of community services, told the council.

Just as with the flat fee that the variable rate replaced a year ago, “the small refuse generator still subsidizes the cost of large trash generators,” Elwell said.

Under the new fee schedule, most Camarillo households--10,300--pay a monthly charge of $17.85 for use of a 101-gallon container, which is picked up weekly.

Fewer households--1,737--pay $12.40 for a smaller 34-gallon container, while 415 households receive two barrels with a combined 165-gallon capacity for a $23 monthly fee.

Customers can also buy special collection tags for $5 to attach to bags of extra refuse. More than 1,300 such tags were sold during the six months ending July 31.

Problems have surfaced during the program’s first year, Elwell said. Some customers who bought 101-gallon containers complained when they saw their neighbors regularly pile bags of trash on top of their 34-gallon barrels. Others complained when the trash collector declined to pick up extra bags without special collection tags.

Drivers with the city’s private trash hauler also found it difficult to enforce the city’s limits on loading containers, Elwell said. He estimated that 10% of the city’s customers were violating rules against overloading.

Several council members supported the new regulation, saying it would help the city meet state goals to divert solid waste from landfills.

“It seems we have more important things to do than to tell people to close their lids properly,” Councilman Ken Gose said. “But I have become convinced that there is a real problem in the city, especially in the 34-gallon category. If you enforce this, people may start keeping their lawn clippings for mulch.”

But Councilman Stanley J. Daily blasted the proposed measure, saying it would jeopardize the city’s efforts to encourage residents to dispose of their trash properly.

“We’re going to have trash Gestapo agents coming down the street” if the rule is adopted, Daily said. “We are a healthy city if the only thing we have to talk about is whether or not to leave the lid up on the trash.”

Councilman Michael Morgan expressed concern that enforcing the rule could lead to trash being strewn along city streets. He proposed a compromise that would allow residents to load trash above a barrel’s rim, but only if it is contained in a bag that prevents loose rubbish from being picked up by the wind.

The compromise measure passed 4 to 1, with Councilman David Smith dissenting.