Council makes planning changes, tables trash rate increase

ROGERS — The City Council on Tuesday made several decisions about the membership of the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustment while delaying a decision about trash pickup rates.

Hannah Cicioni and Samantha Best will be the newest members of the Planning Commission, starting in January. Both were appointed by Mayor Greg Hines and unanimously confirmed by the City Council on Tuesday evening. Their terms will expire at the end of 2028.

Planning commissioners serve six-year terms. The nine- member commission meets in the City Council chambers at 6 p. m. on the first and third Tuesday of each month.

The council also made some changes to the city’s laws on Tuesday, making the Planning Commission the determining body in selecting members for the Board of Adjustment.

The amendments bring the city into compliance with the most likely interpretation of state law, though some other cities in the region operate similarly to the way Rogers has, community development director John McCurdy said.

State law seems to imply that the Board of Adjustment is intended to be a separate body made up of commissioners, he said. According to McCurdy, the change will ensure board members will be more familiar with the city’s comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances.

The board, which hears appeals to decisions made by the commission, will begin meeting on the same night as the commission, he said.

Amendments approved Tuesday require three planning commissioners on the board and specify the commission — instead of the mayor — will determine the membership of the board.

The city’s code of ordinances previously required that the board, made up of at least five members, should include one Planning Commission member. Other members were to be citizens at large. All members were to be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council.

Other amendments about the preliminary plat approval process and sewer services were also approved by the council.

All of the amendments were unanimously approved by the council at Tuesday’s meeting.

In other business, trash and recycling collection rates may increase soon in Rogers, but not yet.

The council on Tuesday tabled an ordinance that would raise rates by 5.8%.

According to the ordinance, pickup fees for a 96-gallon garbage cart and recycling would increase from $18.87 to $19.97 a month. The monthly fee for the 64-gallon cart would increase from $18.36 to $19.43.

The proposed new rates are due to increased expenses, according to Kevin Gardner of Lakeshore Recycling Systems, formerly Orion Waste Solutions.

Mandy Brashear said she wants to clarify certain parts of the proposed changes, which include rules that would suspend recycling pickup for residents who continually contaminate the recycling containers.

Gardner said more expenses have been incurred because many residents have been putting nonrecyclable materials in recycling carts.

The rate increase does not factor in those additional costs, he said.

Hines said the measure would primarily apply to situations where pickup crews observe trash bags sitting in recycling containers, not where someone throws in a single nonrecyclable piece of trash.

Gardner said those situations represent a significant portion of the contamination.

Betsy Reithemeyer said the rule would need to be more specific than it currently is in order to be enforceable.

Council members voted 5-3 to table the ordinance. Mark Kruger, Gary Townzen, Marge Wolf, Clay Kendall and Barney Hayes voted in support. Brashear, Reithemeyer and April Legere voted against.