News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville plans to raise its commercial trash fee by 12 percent in preparation for a new route, a new truck, and a new driver.
Public Works Director Mary Beth Elrod said due to growth, the city expects to have to add a new route to cover additional volume in the next two to three years. She said the rate increase will allow the city to save up money for the costs associated with an additional route.
“It would be so much volume on one existing route that one truck driver could not get to that in a full day,” Elrod said. “So we would have to add additional truck drivers and trucks to a route.”
Elrod said the department has the entire city limits covered with its existing routes. She said the rate increase is budgeted for the coming fiscal year.
“Currently, the residential fees all come out of tax money that the taxpayers pay,” Elrod said. “And we do have commercial fees that are charged.”
She said the city currently has two routes, one residential and one commercial, with a truck and a driver apiece. She said the additional residential route would require a side-load truck, rather than the front-load trucks used for commercial and multi-family residential units.
