Clintonville Common Council amends ordinance
By Bert Lehman
Residents of the city of Clintonville who want to permanently opt out of the city’s garbage and recycling service will be able to do so, now that the city has changed the ordinance regarding the service.
The Clintonville City Council approved the first reading of the updated ordinance at its Feb. 9 meeting.
The opt-out of the garbage and recycling service has been an issue every year since the city introduced the service several years ago.
The point of contention regarding the service has been the fact that residents needed to opt-out of the service each year if they did not want to pay for the service.
At first, the city sent reminder notices regarding the opt-out deadline each year.
In 2020, the city did not send out a reminder notice of the approaching deadline.
The updated ordinance will allow residents to permanently opt-out of the garbage and recycling service starting in 2022.
This means residents will have one more opt-out that they would need to supply the form for the 2022 service year.
Opt-out forms will be required to be submitted to the city by Sept. 15.
In future years, only residents currently partaking in the garbage and recycling service need to submit an opt-out form if they want to stop using the service.
The ordinance also allows residents to rescind their opt-out for the service if they want to use the service.
In order to rescind their opt-out, residents must submit the proper form by the Sept. 15 deadline.
“I just want to make it clear that this, if you opt-out you are out until you opt back in,” said Ald. Ben Huber while discussing the matter at the council meeting. “So, once a person opts out once, they don’t have to fill out any more (opt-out forms). It still has to be done prior to the opt-out date (this year).”
Last year for opt-out deadline
City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the council residents still need to opt out one more time for the permanent opt-out.
“Anybody who wants to opt-out permanently will still need to opt-out this summer,” Eveland said.
Ald. Tammy Strey-Hirt said she was happy the council was able to come together to pass this ordinance change.
“It will help all those people who don’t want to have the garbage service,” Strey-Hirt said. “And it will eliminate problems in the future, at least for that part.”
Ald. Peggy Zaemisch asked if the city could do something for the residents who wanted to opt out of the service in 2021 but missed the deadline.
Eveland said that topic was not part of the ordinance discussion, and not on the agenda for the meeting.
Acting Mayor and Council President Mike Hankins told Zaemisch she could request that topic be placed on the agenda of a future meeting.