Despite a citizens' plea to save the city's recycling program, the Spearfish (South Dakota) City Council voted 4-2 to shut it down at its Monday meeting and will do so earlier than originally scheduled.
The public works department sought to close the operation by Oct. 11, but safety concerns about the baler used to bind recyclables for transport prompted the council to end the program effective September 17.
Lynda Fanning, Kay Kelly and Molly Salcone represented Regroup, a local organization which strongly supported the recycling program when it was implemented in 1995, and asked that they be given three months to study ways to make the program more feasible for the city.
"Give us some time to correct the problem - to try to work it out," Fanning asked the council.
The group outlined several steps it would take in behalf of the recycling program including soliciting financial help from neighboring communities like Deadwood, Lead and Belle Fourche; soliciting financial assistance from individuals who use the program; asking businesses that use the program to pay a monthly fee; publicizing the assets of recycling; and finding a grant to replace the baler which was said by public works director Cheryl Johnson to be a "liability."
Safety concerns that dominated the discussion.
"The most immediate situation is what we do with the baler," Johnson said. "I would not recommend using the baler because of the liability."
Members of the council expressed similar feelings. "We can't afford to injure someone. We can't take that," said Councilman Paul Thomson. "As a representative of the community, it is my responsibility to make these kinds of decisions. I can't see going forward with a baler like this."
The largest concern with the manual-feed baler is that certain safety features were bypassed to enable continued operation.
Mayor Jerry Krambeck said that he was not aware the safety features were disabled and issued an executive order shutting down the baler immediately. "We can't run that baler tomorrow the way it is," he said. "I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if I knew we were putting someone at risk."
Proponents of the recycling program said they understood the safety concerns but were surprised that the issue had not been brought up before. "I understand it has to be a safe place and I understand the bottom line," said Salcone, "but sometimes you have to do things because they are the right things to do.
"I'd hate to see Spearfish take a step backward."
Spearfish business owner French Bryan argued that shutting down the program does not make good business sense. "If the garbage truck broke down tomorrow, you wouldn't stop picking up garbage," he said. "To throw the baby out with the bath water because the baler is on the fritz doesn't make good sense."
Councilman Tom Quinn said that the city can't take on the liability associated with the baler which was purchased used. "We can't know something's wrong with that baler and continue," he said. "For the foreseeable future, we need to discontinue this."
Council members also said that the economics of the situation do not pan out. Through July of 2002, recycling has cost the city $10,239. Average annual cost over the last four years was $7,167, according to Johnson.
"I'm for recycling, but I'm responsible to the taxpayers to make it add up," said Councilman Paul Young.
Thomson added, "Not only does it not pencil out, it doesn't even come close."
Krambeck said that the issue of the program running with a deficit is not new. "This comes up every year and it is always dollars and cents," he said. "It always comes up at budget time. The community has tried everything they could to make it work."