SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The drop-off recycling location on Summit Boulevard in Pensacola has been busy since it opened in July.
Now, the city is forced to address issues with illegal dumping. Mayor D.C. Reeves has proposed moving drop-off recycling to the Transfer Station on North Palafox.
Reeves said this is about more than just illegal dumping. He says by moving the location it could save city residents a lot of money.
The mayor said 85-90% percent of the items dumped Summit Boulevard recycling site can't be recycled.
"What that means is everything going to Summit Boulevard is getting thrown in the dump," said Reeves.
Since July, the city has been called to the location 218 times to clean it up. At least half of those times were scheduled clean-ups.
Reeves says, in some cases, those clean-ups took five people several hours to complete. Adding it all up, the mayor estimates the Summit Boulevard location is costing taxpayers $260,000 a year to operate.
"It just allows us to secure it better. We have fencing there, we can have hours where we would have it open," said Reeves. "Because as you can imagine, when does the contamination happen, it happens because its unassisted nobody is there. there's no fence its in the middle of the night and its very difficult to control."
The transfer location would be manned by one employee with minimal equipment costing taxpayers just $30,000 a year to run, significantly less than operations currently at Summit Boulevard.
"If we're talking about trash bills and trying to balance and making sure your trash bill isn't going up, I would think if we could accomplish the same goal and do it for 90% less cost, then that's something we need to entertain," Reeves said.
City residents WEAR News spoke with are open to the idea.
"Sooner or later, the city is going to get tired of coming out here and taking care of other people's junk," resident Sidney Frey said.
"If it continues to be a problem, then I think we need to look at how we can best use the money in our city because there are a lot of things that need help," resident Anne French said.
This site is only monitored by cameras and does have signs on the dumpsters telling people what can and cannot be dropped off there.
No final decision has been made. The city said it's still exploring their options.
Courtesy: www.weartv.com