PORT HUENEME : Fee for Extra Trash Pickup to Be Weighed

In a move to cut down on garbage and promote recycling in Port Hueneme, the city is considering charging residents $10 per month to pick up extra trash bags and increasing the number of recycling locations in the city.

The measure, which is scheduled to be considered by the City Council tonight, would increase the fee for residents who need more than one trash bin by $10, replacing extra bags with a 60-gallon refuse container, said Douglas A. Breeze, manager for the public works department.

The containers allow workers to use automated arms on refuse trucks to pick up the trash, rather than forcing workers to pick up the bags manually. It costs the city about $300 a week in labor costs to pick up trash bags, Breeze said.

Under the plan, one worker no longer needed to pick up bags would be transferred to the recycling department.

The city, which is required by the state to reduce trash by 25% in 1995, has only five stations where residents can deposit their recyclable goods, Breeze said.

Plans to increase recycling in Port Hueneme include setting up stations at Surfside I and Surfside III, Seaview Apartments, Anacapa View Condominiums and Scott Street, Breeze said.

If the council approves the measure, Breeze said, it will become effective Oct. 31.