Chickamauga to raise garbage rates, study improvements to McNally Field
Residential and commercial customers of Chickamauga utility services will notice higher bills next month.
The City Council approved a increase in trash and garbage pickup of $1.25-percart, a move made necessary by recent hikes in prices charged by the Walker County landfill.
City manager Micheal Haney, during the council’s March 6 meeting, said there have been gradual annual increases in landfill fees since about 2013. These increases, over the last four years, have led to the city losing about $1,000 per year — an amount that was bearable.
But the difference in what is being collected by the city for its 1,122 customers and being paid to the county will drastically increase beginning this month.
“The new fees proposed by the county will be about $15,000 to $16,000 more per year,” Haney said.
Councilman Evitte Parrish noted that since the city collects no property tax— it relies on franchise fees and revenue from its utilities — the increase is necessary.
“It is a fair price for what you get,” he said.
Chickamaugans are currently charged $15 for the first garbage cart and $10 for each additional cart, whether for residential or commercial use. The new fee will add $1.25 to each cart provided for pickup.
The city will continue its collection of brush, trash and light building material — from remodeling projects, not major construction — as part of the weekly garbage service.
After dealing with garbage, the council OK’d a proposal to study improving the lighting of the Dan McNally Field at the intersection of Cove and Glass Mill roads.
Chickamauga is a reseller of Tennessee Valley Authority power, and a TVA comprehensive services team conducted an engineering study to determine the best and most costeffective way to relight the baseball field.
Haney said the total cost of replacing wooden light poles with ones made of steel, switching from halogen to metal halide, and upgrading the transformers would be about $50,000 and could be repaid over about 8-1/2 years.