Attempting to do some housecleaning before the end of the year, the City Council was talking trash on Monday night.
The state legislature is requiring California cities to reduce solid waste by half in a 10-year period (1990 – 2000), but populations continue to grow, thereby making it practically impossible to meet this goal.
“It was a good and laudable goal because they’re trying to reduce waste,” said Mayor Tom Hasse. “But it is unrealistic.”
The city is concerned about waste originating from outside city limits. There is a substantial portion of waste that is said to come from Malibu, which does not. County- and state-owned beaches and properties are large contributors of waste, unofficially counted under Malibu’s solid waste tally.
This extra waste makes it harder for the city to meet the 50 percent solid waste diversion requirement mandated by the state.
Additionally, the intricacies of trash take many faces in Malibu.
While the eastern portion of the city is served by a county-operated hauling company, two private hauling companies serve the western portion of Malibu.
In a report to city staff, these private haulers stated that 25 percent of Malibu homeowners do not subscribe to any waste disposal service at all.
“I can not believe 25 percent of western Malibu households don’t have garbage pick up,” said Hasse. “If that were the case we would see people hauling off trash.”
The way haulers arrive at these figures is suspect since they have an interest in the matter, said another councilmember.
But despite these issues, the city is working on possible solutions to reduce waste. They approved to increase the size of recycling bins provided to households and keep the price at $ 2 per month per bin.
Construction and demolition debris will need to be recycled and the city provides hazardous waste roundups regularly.
In other business, two Metropolitan Transit Authorities representatives came to discuss bus service and scheduling in Point Dume. The city has received numerous complaints about speeding buses in the area.
Residents said that scheduling is excessive. A resident counted up to 42 buses passing in front of her home in a 24 hour period.
But the discussion was somewhat one-sided as those who use public transportation could not attend the council meeting on Monday to voice their opinion.
A speaker came forward on their behalf stating that residents should be sensitive to the needs of passengers who have few other alternatives to get around.
Mayor Tom Hasse empathized since he too has had to take the bus a few times recently.
“Earlier this year I had traffic issues,” he said jokingly, but the service frequency in Point Dume is excessive, he concurred.
The council decided to look into the matter further with the MTA. They will attempt to reduce the bus route on Point Dume and look at alternative options such as a shuttle service, including potential funding sources for this service.
Code enforcement was also briefly discussed at the meeting. But the council did not elaborate on the Code Enforcement Task Force’s recommendations, waiting to get the input of the Land Use Subcommittee first.
Homeowners who wanted to do minor repairs ended up caught in a system that was complicated and costly, said John Miller, Code Enforcement Task Force chair. Therefore, the task force attempted to simplify the rules for them. But not everyone is happy with the results.
Anne Hoffman, spokesperson on behalf of Malibu homeowners who have had problems with enforcement in the past, said safety, simplicity and affordability should be the motto of the code enforcement revisions.
“The fears have not been abated, they have only been pushed to the side,” said Terry Lucoff, a task force member who endorsed the supplemental minority report.
The other side of the task force was soon revealed as Vicki Miller, John Miller’s wife, came to the podium to speak in support of Gail Sumpter, code enforcement officer.
While many feel she is overstepping her boundaries as she attempts to enforce the code, Miller said Sumpter is not deceiving in her methods.
“She has been the target of unjustified rumors,” said Miller.
But since the council was not about to decide on anything pertaining to code enforcement, speakers did not elaborate on the matter for long.
Councilmember Ken Kearsley validated the efforts of the committee. “You’ve diffused a volatile issue in the community,” he said.
The council also reviewed a filming permit ordinance, indicating that notice requirements should be clear so residents can be informed when filming takes place in their community.
“The filming permits should be posted so anybody can walk up to the site and see the permit,” said Hasse.
The council also added a limit of four helicopter landings and take-offs per shoot.
Amendments to a curfew ordinance for minors under the age of 18, which would now include night-time curfew hours from 12 midnight until dawn, in addition to the already existing school day hours curfew, were sent back to staff for review due to legality concerns.