Port Richey tackles trash, code woes

Long-standing complaints about trash collection and code enforcement finally spur City Council into action.

By MATTHEW WAITE

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2000

PORT RICHEY -- Council member Bob Leggiere said Wednesday he is fed up with trash troubles in his town.

That much was clear Tuesday night, when Leggiere told the City Council that continuing problems with trash in people's yards and ineffective trash pick-up around town were "burning my butt," he said.

The Port Richey council took two steps toward a repeated goal -- and a recent campaign issue -- of cleaning up the city. The city will hire a full-time code enforcement officer soon, and officials are looking into whether the city should contract with one garbage hauler for the city.

Leggiere said Wednesday that he has been getting complaints from residents since he started on the council in 1997 about trash and code problems. He's tired of the problems and ready to do something about them, he said.

His thundering about poor trash collection and possibly contracting city services at the meeting Tuesday night seems to have worked. Leggiere said one company called him Wednesday morning and said they would do better.

"I think we need to do some more work on it," Leggiere said about trash troubles in Port Richey. "Obviously, we don't want to be in the garbage business. What's the right move? I don't know."

With little on the agenda Tuesday night, the Port Richey City Council knocked out two campaign issues of new council members in the last half hour of the meeting. Tom Brown and Joe Menicola, both sitting in on their first meeting, had campaigned on improving code enforcement and cleaning up Port Richey.

As the meeting wound down, City Manager Vince Lupo asked the council for its blessing to hire a full-time code enforcement officer. Port Richey has relied on a part-time code officer in the past, and Lupo said that wasn't adequate to take care of all the city's code problems.

Lupo said he had found places in the budget where he could get the money to hire the officer at $28,000 to 29,000 a year. A new budget will be discussed this summer.

"We have no choice," said Leggiere, selected as vice mayor April 17. He said it seemed that every problem in Port Richey stemmed from code enforcement.

The council approved Lupo's request 4-0, with council member Pat Guttman absent.

Moments later, Leggiere started in on trash collection.

Leggiere said that five different trash companies collect garbage in Port Richey, home to about 2,700 people. With photographs, he showed what residents had complained to him about: trash in yards and trash bins on the city rights of way. "We're going to clean up this city whether they like it or not," Leggiere said. "We don't need five garbage companies in this city."

City Attorney Paul Marino said it was a simple process for the city to put trash collection services out for bid, and then if there was a problem, one call from a city official would solve it. However, when Marino said garbage bills would then be added to water bills, council members balked.

Leggiere, Brown, Menicola and Mayor Eileen Ferdinand all said they didn't want Port Richey to get into the trash business, but Leggiere said Wednesday there might be a way to contract with a company to do the work, leaving the city in an oversight role.

Council members asked Marino and Lupo to look into what they could do about trash collection and report back at the next council meeting, May 9.

Leggiere said he's through with trash problems.

"I'm not going to stand for it anymore," he said.

-- Matthew Waite covers Port Richey and can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6247 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6247. His e-mail address is waite@sptimes.com.

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