Owners of larger apartment buildings in the city have gotten a reprieve from having to find a new way to dispose of trash.
The Westbrook City Council has elected to postpone the elimination of trash pickup at apartment buildings with four or more units until at least the spring.
On Monday night, the council removed language from ordinance amendments that would have eliminated trash pickup at apartment buildings with more than four units.
Instead of the changes originally proposed, the council has chosen to address the issue next spring when it plans to take a look at the city’s overall trash and recycling program.
The council is waiting until the spring to decide on a new recycling program for the city because Regional Waste Systems is debating a change in its processes that could affect Westbrook’s decision on whether to go to a pay-per-bag system or an automated system.
The city currently provides trash collection for apartments with up to 10 units and had planned to change the ordinance to reduce its trash collection costs by just over $30,000. Several landlords spoke out against the changes, saying the changes would lead to higher rents for their tenants.
In other news at Monday’s meeting, the council gave preliminary approval for the administration to send out a request for proposals for a citywide revaluation.
The administration expects to pay around $160,000 for the revaluation. The revaluation could begin as early as this fall and be completed in time for tax bills in January 2007.
The administration is expecting the revaluation will bring a general shift in the overall tax burden away from commercial properties and onto residential properties.
According to state law, properties in a community must be valued at the same percentage of their market value, said City Assessor Elizabeth Sawyer. The state also requires that a community’s total property value not fall below 70 percent of the established market value.
The council also gave preliminary approval to a change in the city ordinance to allow contract zoning.
Contract zoning allows a city to rezone a particular property for uses not normally allowed in similarly zoned properties. Language in the previous city ordinance allowed for contract zoning, although it was left out of the current ordinance because the city felt it was unnecessary.
The city council will take a final vote on revaluation bids and contract zoning at its next scheduled meeting on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. in room 114 of Westbrook High School.
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