CHAFFEE CLEAN-UP PROCEEDS

CHAFFEE - An ordinance adopted by the Chaffee City Council in December threatened Monday to put the brakes on the city's annual clean-up, fix-up month.

Nonetheless, the council decided this week to proceed with the event. During May, the city will offer free disposal of bulky items, such as household furniture and appliances.

Items will be picked up in Ward 1, May 2 and 3; in Ward 2, May 9 and 10; in Ward 3, May 16 and 17; and in Ward 4, May 23 and 24. Automobile tires will not be accepted.

City Attorney David Summers stressed Monday night that the free disposal would conflict with the ordinance. The ordinance sets a fee of $10 for each bulky item disposed of by the city.

"You do have something in place," said Summers. "You're carving out an exception here."

The attorney said the city's waiving of the ordinance would create "a very definite dilemma," but that the decision rested with the council.

Ward 4 Councilman Brad Bader spoke out against holding the event. The trash problem is an issue that's going to cost everyone, he said, and he called a $10 fee for the disposal of a bulky item "nominal."

Only Bader voted against a motion by Ward 4 Councilman Tom Cunningham to hold the event. The city's Sanitation Committee has been asked to determine exactly what items will be picked up.

Mayor Ron Moyers said the city really can't afford to hold the event. On the other hand, Moyers warned that people would go to county roads to dispose of the items if such a service were not provided.

People are dumping "fresh trash" daily within the city on the old Oran Rockview Road, said Moyers. The trash, which he termed an "unsightly mess," is being dumped on the road itself along an approximately 150-foot stretch.

"Bus drivers have had to stop several times to get refrigerators out of the way to bring the buses through," he said.

Moyers instructed City Police Chief Ivan McLain to erect a "no dumping" sign at the site.

On an unrelated topic Monday, City Administrator Reece Brown said the city has reached an impasse over its efforts to bring the city's waste-water plant effluent into compliance with state guidelines.

Brown said the city has been unable to get needed information from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. When the city tries to set something up with the department, he said, the calls go unreturned.

Basically, Brown said, the city project has so far only been placed on a list as a fundable project.

City officials decided to try to contact the department one more time before having a city representative travel to Jefferson City and meet in person with department representatives. Brown also suggested that the city could contact area state legislators to see if they can get something accomplished.

Effluent from the plant exceeds state guidelines because its suspended solids are too high. City officials have announced plans to seek a bond issue to deepen the plant's final cell to correct the problem, a project they have said will probably cost more than $300,000.