Carpentersville trustees to consider trash-cart exemption

The garbage and recycling contract in Carpentersville is yet to be cleaned up, almost four months after the village implemented the services of ARC Disposal.

Trustees tonight will consider exempting some residents from an ordinance that requires all refuse and recycling carts to be stored out of sight in a garage, the side or backyard.

In September, the village approved a contract with the Rolling Meadows-based refuse collector, moving from an unlimited pickup service to a rolling-cart method.

While the carts keep trash contained, storing the black totes is problematic for some residents in two neighborhoods on the village's east side.

The amendment addresses the cart storage issues for interior units within townhouses in areas such as the Morningside or Berkshire neighborhoods, Village Manager Craig Anderson said.

"This will ultimately let them store the carts in front of the property," Anderson said. "If it didn't let them store them at the front of the townhouse, it would require them to track the cart through the house."

Residents will be required to build a fence or wall screen, which requires a village permit.

The exact number of residents the amendment would affect is not known, Anderson said.

Assistant Village Manager Dawn Wucki-Rossbach and Community Development Director Cindy McCammack, who prepared the board report for tonight's meeting, did not return calls for comment.

Previous negotiations were made to accommodate senior and disabled residents who said the 95-gallon rolling carts were too large for them to move to and from the curb.

Others said the size was too large for the amount of trash their household would accumulate in a one-week period.

In addition, townhouses that have a single-car garages in other developments have been given the option to change to a smaller, 35-gallon cart.