Last night’s meeting. Fast-forward to about 2:28:00 for the garbage rate item.

After a supercharged round of recrimination and interpersonal sniping, the Eureka City Council last night approved a rate increase for garbage services, on a vote of 3-2.

With Councilmember Kati Moulton absent, the vote over the rate hikes was originally split, with councilmembers Leslie Castellano and Scott Bauer voting in favor, and councilmembers G. Mario Fernandez and Renee Contreras-DeLoach opposed. Mayor Kim Bergel cast the tiebreaking vote in favor.

The 8.5 percent hike – which will add roughly three and a half dollars per month to the average residential trash bill – was prompted by rising costs according to a staff report presented to councilmembers.

Eureka residents should see the increased fees on their bill from Recology, the hauler that holds the local franchise for waste removal services.

Why the increase, and why now?

The city holds a long-term agreement with Recology that runs through 2030. Every year, the company is allowed to ask for rate adjustments that reflect the actual cost of providing its services. Those services have become more expensive in several ways over the last year, according to a presentation from Robin Prasker, the city’s environmental project manager.

The insurance policies that Recology takes out on its vehicles have gone way up. Gas prices, of course, have risen – a factor that weighs on our area particularly, given the high cost of gasoline and the fact that we have to truck our solid waste all the way to Medford. There are the normal cost of living increases.

But then there are also some unusual factors, including the plummeting market for recyclables and the fact that more people have been redeeming their own bottles and cans in order to collect the California Redemption Value. In the past, Prasker said, people would just leave those in their home recycling containers, and so the waste collection system would redeem those deposits. Partly because of that, the cost of recycling has increased.

Fernandez.

At the staff’s presentation, Fernandez took the opportunity to lament the fact that garbage fees have gone up several years in a row. He noted that fee hike would also be imposed on commercial garbage customers, and he wondered what would happen if they simply declined to raise the rates.

City Manager Miles Slattery said that legal action would be among the options open to Recology.

“I’d rather not be too explicit, on the public record,” added City Attorney Bob Black, “but they would have remedies, and I think if they did prevail any delay in the implementation of rates … I think the danger to the city is that we could end up being liable to make up for the fees that consumers were not charged and therefore did not pay.”

Contreras-DeLoach wondered if the council could instead use the nine percent franchise fee it receives from Recology to ameliorate the rate increase.

“If the council chooses to take general fund monies, which is what the franchise fee is, to lower these costs, it can do that,” Slattery said.

Castellano made a motion to approve the rate hikes, noting that no one was excited about the fact but that prevailing economic conditions had made it necessary to continue the service. Bauer seconded the motion.

Contreras-DeLoach.

Before the vote was taken, though, both Fernandez and Contreras-DeLoach made their opposition plain, with Fernandez lamenting the “nickel-and-diming” of the population.

“It might be viewed as a blustery vote tonight from me, but at what point do we say ‘It’s gotten to the point where it’s too damn much,’” Ferndandez asked.

Contreras-DeLoach acknowledged that becoming embroiled in legal action with Recology would just involve passing on the costs to taxpayers, but that it is “deeply frustrating” to be unable to push back.

“It just seems like all anybody ever does is just wring their hands and say, ‘What can we do? We can’t do anything,’” she said. “And we just keep raising the rates across the board on everything.”

Castellano, in her own words, “prickled” at the statement.

Castellano.

“I think that’s a gross exaggeration of what we’re doing up here, and I personally find that offensive,” she said. “I don’t take it lightly that you’re using this issue to talk about the idea that all we’re doing is raising rates for people. That’s not true.

“Yes, costs are going up. Look at the global situation. Look at the national situation. Look at systemic failures. But don’t talk about, like, we’re sitting on council ‘wringing our hands.’”

Contreras-DeLoach apologized for offending Castellano, and assured her that she did not intend her comments personally.

The 2-2 vote was taken, and when Bergel was called upon to break the tie she also had a few thoughts to add.

First, she verified with staff that there are built-in billing rates that can keep costs down for seniors. Then she, too, had some statements to direct at her colleagues.

Bergel.

“We do what we have to do to support our city and our citizens, and we’ve been doing it a long time,” she said. “And the fact that in our society gas prices have gone up, milk prices have gone up, movie tickets have gone up, coffee has gone up. Everything’s gone up. Everything is going up.

“We don’t have control over how much gas costs, or how far we have to drive. That’s a great opportunity to look at in the future. Let’s look at finding new ways to move our trash so we don’t have to pay all those gas prices. There are other ways to look at this.

“But to say that council wrings our hands – that is really offensive and annoying.”