Brookhaven residents who continue to mix trash and garbage andput out excessive amounts of garbage will face higher fees fordisposal.

A problem with city residents combining various types of trashand garbage has prompted the board of alderman to adopt a newcollection ordinance. A new fee structure is part of the ordinanceapproved unanimously by the board during Tuesday’s meeting.

The city has to dispose of various types of garbage and trashdifferently, and people piling them all together has made thatdifficult and costly for the city.

“We found during the past year that many people commingle theirtrash when they put it out,” said Mayor Bob Massengill. “They willplace paper products, cardboard boxes and cans in with leaves andother debris.”

Massengill said that when those items are placed with trashdebris it becomes garbage, and the city has to pay to have thatgarbage disposed.

“If the limb, leaves and yard waste are kept in one pile, thenthose can go into our Landfill No. 2 with no difficulty at all,”Massengill said. “That’s the way it is supposed to work.”

According to the garbage and trash collection ordinance, allrubbish and trash must be separated. Yard trash must be placed inone pile, household appliances such as refrigerators, washer, scrapmetal, etc. in another pile and household rubbish such asmattresses, sofas, chairs, etc. must be placed in another.

Charges for commingled piles of trash and garbage will be basedon the quantity picked up, but will be a minimum of $50, accordingto the ordinance.

Excessive amounts of garbage left out for pickup are alsoaddressed in the new ordinance. Charges set for excessive pickupswill be based on the size of the pile or piles, but will be aminimum of $25.

“If someone tears out their carpet and puts out a tremendousamount of carpet, we are going to have to charge,” he said. “Thoseare over and above what the city is regularly prepared to pickup.”

In the past, the city has charged for removing larger amounts ofwaste. Oftentimes, however, people never paid for thoseservices.

To combat that problem, waste removal fees for commingled itemsand excessive amounts will be added to the water bill, Massengillsaid.

The mayor indicated the fees are needed for financial stabilityof the city’s solid waste operations.

“There are two areas that taxes really don’t enter into,”Massengill said.

One is the water department and the other is the solid wastedepartment. Both have to stand on their own and be supported byfees charged for the services.

“Those are both called enterprise funds and they have to atleast break even,” the mayor said.

Massengill said that it is better if those two departments makea profit so that money can be set aside for new equipment purchasesand for when other emergencies may arise.

“We’ve never had that luxury,” Massengill said. “But a year ago,the city board voted to raise the rate on solid waste and thatincluded the garbage picked up by Waste Management and thatincluded the pickup of trash, debris, limbs and other things ofthat nature that were picked up by the city.”