The Summit County Commission received an earful from a small group of Park City residents Wednesday whose dirty Dumpster did not garner much sympathy from the board.
Residents from the Parkview condominiums want taxpayers to pay for individual garbage cans at the complex’s 36 units.
But the county’s contract with its waste hauler, Allied Waste Services, formerly BFI, identifies Parkview as a commercial area, which means residents must share trash containers, Summit County Commissioner Bob Richer said.
“If everybody starts getting their own garbage cans it’s going to create some issues,” he said, adding, “you’re going to have some aesthetic issues.”
Making an exception for one set of condos could require the county provide a garbage can for every condominium owner in the county, he added.
Summit County Public Works Administrator Kevin Callahan estimates that providing a garbage can for every condominium owner could cost $500,000.
But, County Commissioner Sally Elliott countered, “people actually live full time at Parkview there’s practically no commercial use whatsoever there.”
She disagreed with Richer and County Commissioner Ken Woolstenhulme that providing cans for Parkview residents could set a pricey precedent.
“It’s a very slippery slope,” Richer responded. “In western Summit County there are a lot of condominiums and that’s a major decision.”
With the county preparing to renegotiate its contract with Allied Waste later this year, Woolstenhulme suggested Parkview residents raise the issue then.
“I think that would be the time to make the changes for everybody,” Woolstenhulme said. “To save face and fighting with all the other units, we would be better off to wait until we come up with a new contract.”
That advice, however, didn’t satisfy Parkview resident Derek Howard, who didn’t likely win any friends Wednesday in Coalville.
“I think you came in here with a very closed mind,” Howard told commissioners Wednesday before leaving the meeting. “You were a little bit disrespectful.”
He failed to convince them to buy garbage cans for him and his neighbors.
“You are a condominium complex and right now we cannot open that door,” Richer said. “You are not that different than a lot of other condominium complexes where people have Dumpsters.”
Howard argued that containers in Parkview should be removed because others in the community use them without permission. That claim however did not gain traction.
“Any time you’ve got a Dumpster, it’s a public facility that other people utilize and it becomes a real maintenance challenge,” Callahan said.