The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities during its regular monthly meeting Monday approved a resolution requesting the Jamestown City Council make changes to the zoning code to account for the new Assigned Garbage Container Program. Submitted photo

Changes have been requested to the Jamestown city code to account for the new Jamestown Board of Public Utilities assigned garbage container program.

The BPU board on Monday approved a resolution requesting the Jamestown City Council make changes to the city’s code for the new garbage container program. The change will be to require all residential solid waste customers to use only the assigned garbage container provided to them by the BPU.

“We’re just requesting the city council to approve a few minor changes to the city code,” said David Leathers, BPU general manager.

Each residential unit in the city of Jamestown will be provided with an assigned garbage container for garbage collection and disposal. Last week, the BPU announced that garbage containers will start to be delivered May 10. BPU officials stated it will take three to four weeks to deliver the garbage containers throughout the city.

In February, the BPU approved the provider of the new garbage cans that will be issued to residential customers for the new citywide container program. Rehrig Pacific Company was approved to provide 15,000 solid waste containers in the amount of $830,500, with each container having RFID tags, which will also include the RFID system hardware and software.

Customers can start to use the new garbage can once they receive it, with the program officially starting July 1. The BPU garbage containers are made specifically to fit BPU tipping mechanisms, meaning that older containers not assigned by the utility may not be used for overflow garbage.

Customers should place bagged garbage in the containers and no overflow garbage may be left on the ground without incurring a fee of $25 per occurrence and a $5 per bag fee.

If needed, customers also may request that an additional BPU-issued garbage container or containers be assigned to their addresses for an extra flat monthly fee by contacting the garbage hotline at 661-1651. Extra containers may be requested for a minimum period of six months.

If a customer has an unusual amount of garbage that will not fit in the BPU-issued container for an upcoming week, the customer can call the garbage hotline to request an extra collection in any given week on the day before or the day after their regular garbage day for a fee of $10. As of July, residents can also schedule an extra collection themselves by completing an online form on the BPU’s customer portal under “My Account” at www.jamestownbpu.com.

In other business, the BPU approved a resolution to complete a combustor change-out and stage two nozzle replacement, and outstanding service bulletin compliance, of the LM6000 gas turbine in the amount of $625,830. Leathers said with the approved work, the BPU won’t have to fully overhaul the LM6000 for a few more years. He said the approved work is less expensive than a full overhaul. He added the LM6000 gas turbine won’t be available to generate electricity for about three weeks.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist asked what will the BPU do without its main electric generating device when it’s being refurbished. Leathers said the BPU still has two natural gas boilers to generate electricity. He also said BPU staff targeted the work to take place during mid-October to mid-November, which is the same time of the year when they usually do maintenance work on the LM6000. He added that during this time of the year power prices, electric market volatility and the need to generate power is low.

The BPU also discussed its 2020 financial audit results done by Freed Maxick. Kathryn Barrett, Freed Maxick director, said four of the five utility divisions had a decrease in revenues in 2020, which was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the electric division revenues decreased by almost $4 million, or 9.5%; the water division revenues decreased by $153,000, or 2.7%; waste water revenues lowered by $142,000, or 2.8%, and district heat revenues dropped by $150,000, or 10.6%. The one division with increased revenues in 2020 was the solid waste division, which increased by $357,000, or 15.5%.