Batavia puts off brush, leaf collection fee hike

Batavia residents won't have to pay more for brush and leaf pickup service next year after all.

Although the city council committee of the whole asked last week that a $1-a-month increase be included in the 2015 budget, this week the committee recommended postponing the increase. It would've raised about $90,000. The council will vote on the budget Dec. 1.

Utility customers are billed $36 a year for curbside pickup of leaves and brush.

The cost of picking up brush jumped significantly from 2013 to 2014, after the contractor reported it was losing money on the deal. In 2013, the contract was $94,325; the cost this year is $176,764 and could rise to $219,660 by 2019, if the city exercises options to renew its contract annually with Kramer Tree Services of West Chicago. City crews pick up leaves.

Several of the 10 aldermen who voted "no" on the increase said that, since the budget is balanced, they didn't see a need to increase the fee this year.

"I haven't heard a viable reason," Mayor Jeff Schielke said.

"It would be nice to say we are holding the line on it at least one more year," Alderman Drew McFadden said.

Alderman Marty Callahan said the city council should look elsewhere in the budget to come up with money for the leaf and brush pickups or cut back on the services.

Earlier this year, the city limited the size of brush to 6 inches in diameter or smaller and offered bidders the opportunity to chip the brush at the curb or take it back to their own yards to be chipped, whichever was cheapest. The least expensive bid was for off-site chipping.

"Eventually, we are going to have to come to terms with it (the increasing cost)," Alderman Michael O'Brien said.

Resident Sylvia Keppel suggested that the city do more to encourage residents to mulch their leaves and educate them on the best times to prune trees and bushes, so that the number of brush pickups could be reduced.

Batavia Public Works Director Gary Holm said vendors have told him reducing the number of brush pickups would not save money, because people would just save their brush for the next pickup rather than taking it somewhere for disposal. The biggest cost factor is the manpower involved, he said.

Aldermen Lucy Thelin Atac, Alan Wolff, Susan Stark and Lisa Clark were absent.