The decision to give Cheyenne sanitation workers the Wednesday after Christmas off has snowballed into an incredibly costly mistake.

As you may recall, the move left nearly 4,500 residents without trash pick up between Dec. 22 and Jan. 5, leading the city to reimburse each household affected.

"How much total did it cost the city," Councilman Mike Luna asked during Monday night's City Council meeting.

"Approximately $58,000," said Public Works Director Vicki Nemecek.

"Wow," said Luna. "Did we not have a plan?"

"I made an error in judgement," said Nemecek. "The mayor gave the word that we should work on those days at sanitation and I failed to implement her wishes."

Nemecek says those affected should see a $13.12 credit on their bill by the end of February.

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