$120,000 for waste bins on the Sonoma Plaza?

The Sonoma City Council was talkin’ trash this week about the Plaza’s garbage bins.

“Our current receptacle situation on the Plaza is an embarrassment,” said Vice Mayor Kelso Barnett at the council’s Sept. 12 meeting. He’d later add the word “disaster” to describe the trash bins.

The council was considering a Public Works proposal to spend $123,619 on the purchase of 81 new receptacles from Clean River Recycling Solutions, a trash-bin manufacturer based in Ontario, Canada.

The receptacles were approved by the Community Services and Environment Commission in 2019.

The new bins would be paid for through funds received under Proposition 68, a 2018 state initiative that authorized $4.1 billion for local parks, trails and other outdoor infrastructure.

While Barnett expressed his enthusiasm for replacing the current Plaza trash bins – a haphazard assortment of differing-sized receptacles often prone to overflowing waste – he also had qualms about the new models selected for purchase.

“They seem to be sort of massive,” said Barnett. “And there seems to be a lot of them.”

The 81 receptacles would be positioned in groups of three – green for compost, blue for recyclables and black for general waste – at about 25 different stations throughout the Plaza, according to city staff.

Public Works Administrative and Project Manager Oriana Hart said the size of the receptacles was chosen to accommodate the 50-gallon carts within the bins that are wheeled in and out during emptying.

Barnett also raised concerns that the bright colors of the bins would detract from the Plaza. While state law requires the bins be color-coded to convey what waste they accept, Barnett suggested limiting the colors to the lids. “(Senate Bill 1383) requires that you need some color on there, but you don’t need the entire receptacle to be green,” he said, referring to state recycling regulations that went into effect this year.

“I just feel this is something I’d see at Marine World,” he added, in reference to the former animal theme park in Vallejo, now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. “With all due respect to Marine World, this is the Sonoma Plaza.”

Added Barnett: “And this is $120,000 for trash cans; that just seems like a lot of money to me.”

Mayor Jack Ding also found the cost prohibitive. “Pricewise, it’s a little bit (expensive),” Ding said. “Maybe that (price) is right, but I’m a little bit curious.”

Hart said the price of the bins is reflective of their large size and, of the two quotes the city received, Clean Rivers’ was the cheaper.

Matt Metzler, who was on the CSEC at the time the receptacles were approved, said during the public comment portion of the meeting that the issue “is not strictly about garbage.”

“This is about reducing greenhouse gas production by increasing the recycling and compost,” said Metzler. “The inadequate containers we have now means a lot of stuff does not get composted or recycled that should be.”

Council members were in agreement that the look of the receptacles would ideally be part of a Plaza Master Plan, the long-term vision for the Plaza that the council hopes to begin considering in the coming weeks.

The creation and approval of a Plaza Master Plan, however, could be years in the making. In the meanwhile, the purchase of the bins would need to be completed by the end of 2023 in order to be eligible for Prop. 68 grant funds, said Hart.

Metzler cautioned the council not to miss out on the grant funds while it waits for a Plaza Master Plan.

“I’ve seen too many things that didn’t happen because the City Council was not assertive enough and did not make a decision and kicked things down the road,” Metzler said. “And then other problems and complications and loss of funding came up.”

While Councilmember Sandra Lowe didn’t have any particular qualms about the new bins, she said she’d defer to Barnett’s guidance since he’s “just so engaged in the garbage situation.”

That said, continued Lowe, “I haven’t seen a garbage bin I’ve walked away from saying, ‘Wow, that’s really a great looking garbage bin!’”

To which Barnett responded: “I’ve got some (images) to send you.”

In the end, the council took no action on the new receptacles and directed staff to conduct further research and return with alternatives at an upcoming meeting.

Email Jason Walsh at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.