Pinole Municipal Code Ch. 8.08 Solid Waste

The definitions contained in Title 7.3, Chapter 1, Article 2 of the California Government Code and Administrative Code, shall govern the interpretation of the words used in this chapter except for the following:

A. BIN. A watertight garbage bin or container the type of which has been approved by the collector.

B. CITY. The city of Pinole, California.

C. CITY MANAGER. The City Manager of the city of Pinole or said city manager's designee.

D. COLLECTOR. The person having a contract or franchise agreement with the city for the collection and disposal of solid wastes.

E. COUNTY. Contra Costa County, California.

F. DIRECTOR OF FINANCE. The director of finance of the city or said director's designee.

G. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS. The director of public services of the city or said director's designee.

H. OWNER. The person who is listed as having title to property by the latest property tax assessment rolls maintained by the Contra Costa County assessor.

I. PERSON. Any corporation, association, syndicate, joint stock company, partnership, club, society or individual.

J. PREMISES. Any real property interest or estate which may be demised or granted by deed. The word premises includes tracts, lots or parcels of land; easements; single-family residences; townhomes; condominiums; multiplefamily dwellings; apartments; flats; duplexes, boarding or lodging homes; restaurants; hotel or motels; commercial establishments or any parcel of land upon which a building or business is located.

K. RECEPTACLE. A watertight garbage can or container the type of which has been approved by the collector. Each receptacle should have suitable bails or handles with a tight-fitting cover and should have a capacity of not less than ten gallons and not greater than thirty-two gallons.

L. SOLID WASTE. Putrescible and nonputrescible solid and semi-solid material. The term solid waste includes garbage; refuse; trash; rubbish; kitchen or table food wastes; animal or vegetable wastes; tree, shrub or bush trimmings; newspapers or magazines; ashes; paper or cardboard; tin or aluminium cans; yard clippings; wood; glass; bedding; crockery; plastics or rubber by-products; litter; animal excrement; vegetable or animal sewage; industrial wastes; demolition and construction wastes; and discarded home and industrial appliances. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It shall be unlawful for any person to place, deposit, keep, bury or allow the accumulation of any solid wastes on, in, or under any premises. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It is unlawful for any person to deposit any solid waste in any city sewer or plumbing fixture or pipe connected thereto, except through a mechanical device which shreds or grinds solid waste material and which has been approved by the director of public works. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It is unlawful for the owner of any premises to suffer, permit or allow any solid wastes to remain in, on or under said premises for a period in excess of seven days. Any solid waste accumulating from or uponany premises shall be kept in a covered receptacle. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It is unlawful for any person to throw, place, scatter, or deposit, or cause to be thrown, placed, scattered, or deposited upon any street, sidewalk, alley or public place in the city, any solid wastes, except that a property owner may place properly packaged materials at the curb on regularly scheduled days established by the city or the collector for the removal of the same. (Ord. 490 § 2 (part), 1986).

It is unlawful for any person to burn any solid waste within the city limits of the city. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

The city, in order to more effectually promote and protect the public health and safety and reduce the danger and hazards of fire, reserves unto itself the exclusive right to collect and dispose of the solid waste produced or found within the corporate limits of said city. It is unlawful for any person to collect or dispose of solid waste within the city, except as is expressly provided in this chapter. The city shall have the right to franchise its exclusive rights hereunder to the collector. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

A. It shall be the duty of every owner of every premises to maintain receptacles (in the case of owners of single or multiple residential dwelling premises, excepting owners whose multiple residential dwelling premises are served by disposal boxes and not individual receptacles for each residential unit, such receptacles shall be provided by the collector) for receiving and holding all the solid waste produced, created or accumulated upon said premises between the times for the collection of the solid waste, and to deposit all such solid waste therein. All such receptacles shall be kept in sanitary condition at all times and shall not be placed within the limits of any street or any public place in the city, except that the owner of any residential premises shall place or cause to be placed such receptacles at the curb in a location reasonably convenient for semi-automated or automated collection on the regularly scheduled collection days established by the city or the collector for the collection of solid waste in the area.

B. Every owner of a single or multiple-family residential dwelling premises shall maintain and keep receptacles of an adequate size and in sufficient numbers to contain, without overflowing, all the refuse generated by the dwelling residents within the designated removal period. The owner (directly or by means of the collector, as the case may be) shall provide a minimum of one receptacle per family residential dwelling unit or the equivalent thereof as agreed between the owner and the collector pursuant to Section 8.08.170. (Ord. 98-101 § 1(part), 1998: Ord. 490 § 2 (part), 1986).

It shall be the duty of every owner or any premises in the city to subscribe to and pay for the solid waste collection service described herein if said premises is occupied. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It is the duty of every owner of any premises in the city who is provided or whose tenants are provided a receptacle by the collector in accordance with Section 8.08.080 to place the receptacle(s) on the curb immediately in front of the premises in a location reasonably convenient for semiautomated or automated collection on the regularly scheduled collection days established by the city or the collector for the collection of solid waste. The only exception to this requirement is when the owner or the tenant of the owner of the premise has reached an agreement with the collector for an alternative collection method which would relieve the owner or his/her tenant from the obligation of placing the receptacle at the curb. The collector shall make appropriate alternative collection arrangements with physically challenged owners or physically challenged tenants. (Ord. 98-101 § 1(part), 1998).

A. Any person failing to subscribe for the collection and disposal of solid waste as required by this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction.

B. Each owner of a premises shall start collection services within seven days of the occupancy of a premises. If the owner fails to start service, the collector shall give the owner written notification that such service is required. If service is not initiated within fifteen days from the date of mailing of the notice, then the collector shall initiate and continue service for the owner. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

A. The city or, if there is one, the collector shall be entitled to payment from the owner for any collection services rendered.

B. If any owner fails to pay the collector for collection service for a five-month period or for any accrued period after collection service is stopped, the collector shall mail the owner a final request for payment for the amounts owed, plus penalties including the charge for service to the end of the owner's most recent billing period, which may include the month during which the notice was mailed. The final request shall include a warning notice that if the service charges are not paid within thirty days, they will be turned over to the city for placement on the tax rolls. The warning notice shall include information concerning the additional administrative charges that will become due if a lien is recorded against the property, and that the city shall assess the property on the next property tax statement if the charges plus penalties are not paid in full. The final request for payment shall be mailed to each owner that appears as the owner of the property for which the service was provided on the most recent property assessment rolls of the county assessor.

C. The form and content of the warning notice sent by the collector shall be approved by the director of finance of the city.

D. If the payment is not made by the owner within thirty days, the collector will file with the director of finance a verified notice which shall contain the assessor's parcel number, the name or names of the owner, the address of the property served, the period of the service, and the amounts due plus penalties as described in the resolution determining rates. The verified notice shall be submitted by the collector to the director of finance not more than ninety days following the final request for payment.

E. The verified notice shall set a time and place for an administrative hearing before the director of finance and shall be mailed by the collector to each person to whom the described property for which the service is rendered is assessed on the most recent property assessment rolls of the county assessor. The verified notice shall be mailed not less than fifteen days prior to the date of hearing.

F. The director of finance shall conduct a hearing. The director of finance shall determine what if any assessment should be imposed upon the owner.

G. If the director of finance approves the delinquent charges against the owner of the property and the owner fails to pay said charges, an assessment on the real property for which the services were rendered will be recorded with the recorder of Contra Costa County. The recorded assessment shall carry an additional administrative charge , as established by resolution, and subject to review on an annual or “as needed” basis, to determine that full cost recovery is collected.

H. Delinquent charges which remain unpaid by the owner shall constitute a special assessment against the property to which the service was rendered and shall be collected at such time as established by the county assessor for inclusion in the next property tax assessment.

I. The director of finance shall annually deliver to the auditor-controller of Contra Costa County for inclusion in the next property tax assessment the total sum of unpaid delinquent charges plus penalties for garbage collection service and administrative charges, plus an assessment charge of five dollars as a special assessment against the parcel of property situated within the city to which the service was rendered. The assessment shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected. The assessment shall be subordinate to all existing special assessment liens previously imposed on the property. It shall have priority over other liens except for those state, county and municipal taxes with which it shall have parity. The assessment shall continue until the assessment and all interest and charges due and payable thereon are paid. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of municipal taxes shall be applicable to the special assessment.

J. Any funds received by the city for delinquent charges as described in this section shall be forwarded to the collector after first deducting the reasonable expenses incurred by the city. (Ord. 2008-10 § 1, 2008; Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

The collection, removal, and disposal of solid waste may be performed by the city under the direction of the City Council , or by any person with whom the city has entered into a contract or franchise agreement for the collection, removal, and disposal thereof. It is declared unlawful for any other person than those above stated to remove, convey, or cause to be removed or conveyed any solid waste as hereinbefore defined upon or along any street or alley or any other public place in the city except in conveyances, containers, bins or receptacles that will not permit any waste matter to sift or leak through, or fall on, to said city streets, alleys, highways or waterways. Solid wastes conveyed in other than a container or receptacle with a close-fitting lid shall be protected with covers to prevent the solid waste from being blown or spilled onto the streets, alleys, highways, waterways, or adjacent lands. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

It is unlawful for any person in any manner to interfere with the collection, removal, or disposal of solid wastes by the authorized collector. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

The City Council may enter into a contract or franchise agreement with any person for the collection of solid waste. Such contract or franchise agreement may be revoked by the City Council for noncompliance with the provisions of said contract or franchise agreement or for violation of the provisions of this chapter or any pertinent federal, state or local law in accordance with the terms of said contract or franchise agreement. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

The city reserves to itself the right to fix the maximum rates and fees that the city or the collector is authorized to charge.

A. Rates and fees for garbage collections may be fixed by a resolution of the City Council .

B. Any resolution that fixes rates shall be adopted only after a public hearing upon ten days notice published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the city. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

A. At such times as there is in force a contract or franchise agreement entered into by the city with the collector for the operation and maintenance of solid waste disposal facility. The collector may charge all persons using the facility for the purpose of depositing solid waste thereon at such rates that may be fixed by resolution as provided in Section 8.08.150.

B. In the event a dispute arises between the collector and any person using the facility for said purposes as to the rate charged or to be charged for the use of the facility, the matter shall be referred to the City Manager, and the City Manager shall upon investigation determine and fix such price as the City Manager may deem just and equitable. The determination of the City Manager thereon shall be final. (Ord. 490 § 2 (part), 1986).

For collections of unusual accumulations of solid waste, and for collections not herein otherwise provided for, such rates shall be charged, and such receptacles shall be used, as may be agreed upon between the collector and the person for whom such solid wastes are collected. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

In all cases where disputes arise as to the rate charged or to be charged for any service provided in these provisions, or the number or kind of receptacle(s) to be used, the matter shall be referred to the City Manager of the city and the City Manager shall, upon due investigation,

determine and fix such price and receptacle requirement as he or she may deem just and equitable. The determination of the City Manager shall be final. (Ord. 490 § 2 (part), 1986).

The City Council may make such regulations concerning the number and manner of collections, the maintenance and operation of collector's vehicles, and the maintenance of the disposal facility as it may deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter. (Ord. 490 § 2(part), 1986).

Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit any of the following:

A. The keeping and use of solid wastes in the operation of a compost facility which has been approved by the director of public works.

B. The burying of solid wastes at a solid waste disposal facility.

C. The collection of salvagable solid waste by nonprofit organizations such as a paper drive for the Boy Scouts or the placing, depositing, and keeping of solid wastes at a recycling center operated by a nonprofit organization which has been approved by the director of public works.

D. The purchase and collection of fat, bone, and meat scraps from markets and restaurants by persons engaged in the tallow and meat rendering business.

E. The transportation to an approved disposal site of additional solid waste by a person who generated the waste and has otherwise complied with the mandatory requirements for solid waste collection.

F. The option of any person to dispose of solid waste that he or she has generated on his or her property or location, provided that he or she first obtains a written permit from the City Manager upon a showing of the ability to comply with the sanitary provisions of this chapter. Such permit shall be for a period not to exceed one year. The exception provided by this subsection does not permit a person to collect or dispose of waste, generated or accumulated by other persons such as in condominiums, apartments or a mobile home complex. (Ord. 490 § 2 (part), 1986).