Fruit Heights weighing green-waste program

FRUIT HEIGHTS — City officials are hoping more residents will help them decide whether to bring a green-waste program to Fruit Heights.

Of the 1,300 surveys sent to residents in a recent utility bill, just 250 have come back so far.

And the results have been mixed: About 50 percent would be willing to pay for such a program to dispose of grass clippings and other yard and vegetable waste.

But it's not too late for residents to respond, says Mayor Todd Stevenson, who has been working with the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District on a plan to implement the program.

The city is still collecting survey responses, and residents who haven't filled them out yet are urged to send them in.

Nathan Rich, executive director and CEO of the district, is analyzing responses from the survey to understand further what residents are saying.

Rich said he originally theorized that residents in Fruit Heights who order more than one garbage can from the city do so because they use the second or third can for green waste during the spring and summer months.

And replacing a second can with a green-waste can would divert green waste from Wasatch Integrated's incinerator, where about 50 percent of Davis County's waste ends up being converted to steam, which is sold to Hill Air Force Base, and ash, which is used as daily landfill cover.

"At times in the summer, we have 40 percent to 50 percent of waste that is grass clippings," Rich told the waste district's board of directors in February.

Green waste doesn't combust well in the incinerator because of its water content and makes the incinerator run less efficiently, he said.

Currently, only the Layton landfill accepts green waste, which is composted and resold the to public. It sells out every year.

Rich said he plans to meet with Robinson Disposal, which hauls away the city's garbage, to work out a potential pricing plan, and then come back to the mayor and City Council with a report and recommendations.

Rich estimates at least 300 households would need to participate in a green-waste program to be worthwhile for Robinson to send a truck through the city.

If the City Council decides to move forward, Rich anticipates holding a public hearing for residents to get feedback and to publicize the program.

But more data would be nice, he said, to give him and city officials an accurate picture of residents' feelings.

Any residents who no longer have the survey may call city offices at 801-546-0861.

E-Mail: jdougherty@desnews.com