Loomis public hearings set for trash, Dry Creek fees

The Loomis Town Council will hold a required public hearing Tuesday to consider raising waste pickup fees. Recology has provided garbage collection service to Loomis since 1978. The latest contract approved in 2001 was amended in 2007 to include a residential green waste program at no cost to Loomis residents, officials said. This was in exchange for a 10-year contract extension through 2024. To this day, staff said, the cost for yard waste collection, valued at the time at $5.48 per month per customer, has been waived. The increase reflects an increase to the average residential customer's monthly garbage bill between 1.4 and 2.3 percent, depending upon the type of service, staff said. The cost of a 96-gallon toter, the most common residential service, is proposed to increase from the current rate of $31.32 to $31.92 per month (1.9 percent increase). A typical five cubic yard bin used by commercial customers, serviced one time per week, is proposed to increase from the current rate of $442.63 to $453.94 per month (2.6 percent increase). "The proposed rate increase has no direct impact on the town's General Fund," the staff report stated. "It's also worth noting that the service rates for the town of Loomis are one of the lowest in the county." The Loomis Town Council will also consider raising the Dry Creek Watershed Drainage Mitigation fee, along with an adjustment each year for inflation. Staff said the town of Loomis has not updated their drainage mitigation fee since its inception, Jan. 1996. All of Loomis lies within the Dry Creek watershed. The fee is to fund capital improvement projects identified in a 1992 Placer County Flood Control and Water Conservation District Dry Creek Flood Control Plan. Fees are collected for each single family residential (four dwelling units per acre and less), high-density residential (greater than four units per acre), and commercial/industrial uses. The single family residential (per unit) current rate is $ 311 The increase proposed is $ 353. The high-density residential (per unit) current rate is $119, with a proposed increase to $135. The commercial/Industrial per acre current rate is $ 1,427, with an increase to $ 1,844, according to the staff report. In other business, Town Council will consider the town's proposed $5.1- million operating budget for fiscal year 2022-23. The council will discuss it, amend the budget if necessary and likely adopt. Also on the table next Tuesday is the presentation of a proposed Loomis five-year capital improvement program. Public input will be received before scheduled adoption of the plan plus a two-year funding plan through 2024. General Plan update Meanwhile, Loomis town officials began the final stretch of updating the town's General Plan through 2040. Town Council held a joint workshop with the Loomis Planning Commission on Wednesday. The General Plan "scoping" session for the associated Environmental Impact Report was scheduled to continue Thursday after press time. The public can still comment through the "scoping comment form" available online. These must be received by the town by June 16, staff said. The General Plan Update includes revisions, additions, deletions and other modifications to the 2001 General Plan to reflect the town's vision into 2040, provide a maintenance update, comply with state law, reflect current physical and economic conditions in the town, reflect changes in the town since 2001 and resolve inconsistencies.