WEBSTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The town of Webster has proposed the use of “refuse collection zones” to its town board. The proposal was presented to the town board in January in a public meeting.

The town says if implemented, specific days of the week would be designated for waste pickup in a neighborhood, or on a street.

Josh Artuso, Director of Community Development with the town, says that in the last handful of years, they have received more complaints regarding waste pickup: Garbage cans seemingly are at curbs every day of the week.

“(It’s from) blowing garbage, to missed collection days, visual blight, the congestion on our neighborhood streets,” he added.

Webster town supervisor Tom Flaherty says a solution was needed.

“That’s a quality of life issue, and we said, ‘well, how can we potentially do something to minimize how many days a week that those garbage cans are at the curb,'” Flaherty said.

From those complaints, a team from the town put together the proposal.

He also said that he wanted as little government involvement as possible, and said that zones are a better potential solution for Webster, as “districts” essentially involve collective bargaining.

“We don’t want to get involved with the refuse business, we just want the resident to have the best possible service. that’s all this really is,” said Jim Montgomery, the Code Compliance Coordinator of Webster.

Montgomery says that a similar program is in place in the town of Greece, his previous employer, and said their program works well.

In January, the town board approved the team to continue to research the proposal. At this point, Webster says they are working on meeting with waste haulers for their data and pickup schedules.

Once they meet, they can better assess if this plan will work — or not — for Webster. If they believe refuse zones are the right step forward, they will present a new proposal in the spring.

“Does it work for the citizens for the quality of life on their street? But does it also work for the refuse hauler?” Flaherty conjectured. “Because if it doesn’t, then it’s probably going to affect the pricing they give, and that’s not going to make our citizens happy.

“Right now we’re in the discovery mode of making sure that the final proposal,” Flaherty said.”If we come to one, we’ve vetted it enough that we think it works for all sides.

The waste hauler Casella provided this statement:

We believe that a free market and the ability for individuals to choose their own service providers is the best way to serve the broader Rochester community. Eliminating competition in this manner has several unintended consequences for consumers and businesses alike. With that said, we have the proven ability to provide service under these kinds of agreements as well. 

News 8 has reached out to Waste Management and has not received a reply.