Hillsboro City Council committees mull waste collection proposals, DORA extension request

Hillsboro City Council committees met Monday, Aug. 5 to continue ongoing discussions on citywide waste collection and to consider a request to expand the city’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA).

As previously reported, a resolution to advertise and solicit bids for citywide waste collection passed as an emergency in June after suspension of the three-reading rule. According to utilities committee chair Greg Maurer, the committee was told that “waste collection companies would not provide RFPs and that we needed to authorize the administration to get bids to see if we want to proceed making this part of our city utilities.”

In response to feedback from citizens at their July 11 meeting, council president Tom Eichinger explained that the resolution was “passed to allow the city to find out what kind of pricing we could get.” Maurer said they are still “in the very beginning stages of trying to find information” and that they passed the resolution to seek bids on its first reading to start getting said “information as soon as possible.”

Some of the reasons discussed for the proposal are to save money and to cut down on code enforcement due to the lack of trash pickup at certain residences. If approved by council, trash would be added to residents’ water utility bill as an additional mandatory charge.

On Monday, the committee reviewed the proposals addressed some of the comments they have heard, whether at previous meetings, the Monday evening meeting or through messages from constituents.

According to Maurer, the city received bids from three different contractors for a “three-year locked-in contract,” with the highest coming from Rumpke; a bid from Caribou Sanitation having “the lowest monthly costs for the first year, but [which] accelerated quicker;” and Pro Waste having the overall lowest costs for “all three years.

Hillsboro resident Rick Bailey, who attended Monday’s committee meeting, said he had initially been “concerned that by taking up the competition, there could be a monopoly and it could raise prices,” but that if there was a three-year guaranteed rates, that would be “great.”

“We’ve taken bids so we can get a lower cost of trash removal and doing a contract for three years, there could be hopefully a savings for most people in Hillsboro,” Maurer said. “They're contracting with us, and they know that they're going to have the ability to pick up everybody's trash. There’s efficiency for them.”

Maurer said that Jane Stowers, who spoke in favor of her trash service through an independent contractor during the July city council meeting, had advised that she paid “$18 a month, and she was worried it would go up.

“With Pro Waste their bid, plus the administration fee, would be at that $18 a month,” Maurer said, adding that the fee would be lower than other companies in the city currently, including Pro Waste’s rate for existing customers.

Committee member Dan Baucher said a resident expressed concerns that this was already approved to be “mandatory,” and at the July council meeting, local resident Gary Heaton shared similar concerns.

“Right now, we're just fishing numbers,” Baucher said.

Maurer agreed but said that “if we do want to do it, we’re trying to get everything set up and approved so that we get it done for next year” to have the contracts in place “to start Jan. 1.”

According to Maurer, the quote from Pro Waste includes a “96-gallon trash can” for each residence and weekly trash pickup.

Committee member Jason Brown asked if there was a “one-can limit” or if residents could put out additional trash. Maurer said they would have to check for clarification.

“It does say something about it can be up to 50 pounds and no more than four foot extra,” Maurer said.

“It would be nice to know that, if you have a big family and you're producing a massive amount of trash,” Brown said. “You don't want to be stuck with trash all the time. I would imagine they would take it, but if it doesn't say in there, then they wouldn't have to.”

City council member Mary Stanforth asked if each Hillsboro resident would be charged for this utility “whether or not they need it.” Maurer and public works superintendent Shawn Adkins confirmed that it will be assessed to all residents on their water bills.

However, Adkins clarified that this will not apply to “business, apartment complexes or multi-family dwellings.”

“This will eliminate the excuse of not having a trash service,” Adkins said. “Hopefully it'll take a little bit off code enforcement.”

Brown said he was open to discussing the proposal with full council but not necessarily in favor of the contract idea.

“It doesn't sound like there's going to be a great big savings over what some are paying,” Brown said. “I like competition and capitalism. I'm probably not for this, but I don't care to send it on to full council so everybody can discuss it.

“I wouldn’t put someone out of business to save $20, $30 a month, but that’s just me.”

Baucher asked if they should consider holding a public hearing to get more feedback.

“Quite frankly, I would say that you want to have all your answers nailed down before you proposed any legislation that would come to council,” Eichinger told the committee.

Maurer said he thought they could get “answers that we need” to the questions about the bids prior to the next city council meeting for further consideration.

“We can at least discuss it,” Maurer said.

Brown said that was “fine” with him, and the motion passed, 3-0.

• • •

Following that meeting, the street and safety committee convened at 6 p.m., where they voted to table a request to amend the current DORA district until infrastructure improvement are made.

During the July 11 meeting, a request from the Hillsboro Pickleball Association asking the city to “take a look at the DORA structure and consider to extend the DORA down to the pickleball courts [on Railroad Street] and on over to The Porch [on North West Street] to tie all of that together” was placed in the committee for review.

“I know I've got letters from The Porch, and she wants to be in the DORA district, which I do understand,” Wilkin said. “I got a letter from the lady who runs the pickleball organization, and she also would like to see the courts involved in that DORA as well. I don't have a problem with that at all.”

As previously reported, after nearly a year of planning, council voted — in a split decision, 4-3 — to approve the ordinance creating a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in uptown Hillsboro in June 2023.

According to the Ohio Department of Commerce, “Per R.C. 4301.82, a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area or ‘DORA’ (aka Outdoor Refreshment Area or ‘ORA’) is nothing more than a specified area of land that a local legislative authority has designated as exempt from certain open container provisions as defined within the legislative act that created the DORA.

“Thus, patrons within a DORA that purchase an alcoholic beverage for on-premises consumption from a DORA designated liquor permit holder can leave the permit premises with an opened alcoholic beverage container and continue consuming it within the DORA.”

Currently, the hours of the DORA are Thursday through Saturday from 3-10 p.m. The total area is “approximately 24 acres in size,” including 100-139 North High Street; 100-139 South High Street; 101-160 West Main Street; 108-122 and 226 East Main Street; 235-237 West Beech Street; 118 South West Street; 126 and 108 Governor Trimble Place; and 107-119 Governor Foraker Place.

Wilkin said that he asked Hillsboro Police Chief Eric Daniels for an update on the existing DORA, and Daniels said there have been “no problems” reported with the current arrangement.

“It’s still young yet, but we’ve gotten through most of the summer and spring with no problems yet,” Wilkin said.

According to Wilkin, the proposed addition would “avoid Beech Street” and would instead involve “having to go down to Crossroads Park and then shoot out Railroad Street” toward The Porch and the pickleball courts. Adkins said that Beech Street was omitted because of feedback the city had received about wanting to avoid residential areas.

Maurer asked Adkins about sidewalks and lighting on the proposed route.

“There will be sidewalks,” Adkins said. “That will be coming to council here shortly, for Beech Street and Railroad [Street]. That’s getting all-new sidewalks, curbs and gutters.

“We’ll be contacting AEP to hang lights on electric poles.”

In response to a question from committee member Jo Sanborn, Adkins also said the proposed DORA addition fit into the new bike trails that will be constructed.

Sanborn said her concern was that the DORA was set up “to be in the historic district, and now it’s expanded over” beyond those limits.

“I don’t know if the people that are already in the DORA right now, if they would be upset because we expanded it when we said we weren’t going to,” she said. “Being where pickleball is, they would automatically go to The Porch and not walk up the street [to the uptown district].”

Wilkin added that he didn’t think they promised “not to expand” the DORA.

Maurer said that safety was his biggest concern in making an update at this time, since they do not yet “have our issues fixed on Railroad Street.

“I’m not against changing the DORA,” Maurer said. “I’m just against changing the DORA before the sidewalks and street lights are addressed because I feel like that’s a safety issue.”

Wilkin agreed that the city shouldn’t “extend the DORA out until it’s safe and ready.” Adkins said that the city “couldn’t do that before the sidewalks [are installed] because we don’t want people walking on the street.” That could take “a year to a year and half,” according to Adkins.

In that case, Wilkin said, the meeting was not necessarily “a waste of time, but a little premature.

“We can’t have people walking in the middle of the streets with no lights,” Wilkin said.

Sanborn and Maurer both said they were in agreement. Maurer motioned to table the matter, which passed, 3-0.

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