Trash Fee Increase Gets No Support

Members of the Cheyenne City Council Finance Committee on Monday refused to recommend a proposed 5 percent increase in trash fees.

But the full city council will still have the final word on the issue.

Some Finance committee members were absent Monday, including chairman Jim Brown. Committee member Scott Roybal took over Brown's role as committee chair for the day.

But when time came to make a motion in favor of the increase, both Mike Luna and Richard Johnson remained silent. Luna voted against an increase two weeks ago, while Johnson at that time voted in favor. The five percent increase is called back from the originall proposal of an eight percent increase.

Public Works Director Vicki Nemecek maintains a funding increase is needed to pay for an upgrade at the Solid Waste Transfer Station, which she say is badly outdated. The city also needs to deal with the fact the Happy Jack Landfill is rapidly running out of room and will be non-functional in 3-4 years unless something is done, according to Nemecek.

The full city council will take up the issue again at it's May 26th meeting.