Ashtabula’s Recycling Fairness Showdown and School Recovery
The Ashtabula City Council debates expanding curbside recycling citywide, weighing fairness, finances, and social media criticism while ultimately approving new totes and trucks. Council members also review Lakeside schools’ post-snowstorm rebuilding plans, new grant funding, infrastructure upgrades, park cleanups, and changes to background check rules. 34mins
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Original Meeting
Monday, July 6th, 2026
9276.839278
July 6, 2026 Pre-Council and Regular Council Meeting (July 06, 2026)
In This Video
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The committee received updates on new grants for environmental cleanup and building improvements, a forthcoming recommendation to repeal the moratorium on large accessory structures, and a presentation from the Northeast Ohio Community Resilience Center on preparing for extreme weather and enhancing community resilience.
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The committee clarified that a volunteer cleanup would take place at South Park by the Episcopal Church, as Mr. Ducrow outlined plans for edging sidewalks, clearing and mulching beds, trimming bushes, and possibly extending work to North Park if turnout allowed.
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The City Manager confirmed that city staff would support the park cleanup by providing mulch and bringing a power edger to help prepare and refresh the planting beds.
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The President of Council announced that the Finance and Personnel Committee would meet on July 17 at 8:30 a.m. and began transitioning to the agenda for other committees.
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Council Member Mills reported on the post‑snowstorm recovery of the school district, outlining demolition and repair work at the high school and a planned student return in early 2027, while also detailing the district’s insurance coverage dispute and lawsuit with Liberty Mutual and efforts to secure upfront construction funding ahead of a legal settlement.
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Council Member Mills reported that the district brought food service back in-house to improve quality and save about $200,000, celebrated an eighth consecutive clean audit, and outlined plans to respond to a failed technology and textbook levy by forming a resident levy committee while serving approximately 2,865 students.
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Council Member Mills and the City Manager reviewed the Main Avenue streetscape progress, noting sidewalk work and pending light pole delivery, and confirmed that new traffic signal radar at the West Avenue–Lake Avenue–Carpenter intersection had been completed and was improving traffic flow.
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Council Member Mills and the City Manager discussed the ongoing outfall relocation project, noting that the spring mixing zone study report had not yet been received, that scheduling the summer study depended on coordinating boat‑free days with Kinder Morgan to meet EPA requirements, and that initial data from the first study appeared favorable.
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Council Member Mills and the City Manager explained that the plant’s multi‑discipline design phase was using outdated facility standards, leading staff to defer major capital expenses to stay within budget while planning to review preliminary designs next week and seek bids by year’s end, coordinated with new loans that would later roll into construction financing.
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A speaker urged council to approve a purchase to equalize trash services across Wards 3–5, emphasizing that residents had paid the same fees for nine years while receiving less service, that the city could afford the change, and that fairness required delivering on the promise of one city, one standard.
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President of Council Roskovics rejected claims that differing recycling services reflected favoritism or unfairness, emphasizing fiscal responsibility as the core issue, calling the accusations offensive and potentially damaging, and criticizing social media narratives that portrayed wealthier residents as receiving better trash service.
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The City Manager explained that curbside recycling had begun as a logistical pilot using existing trucks and routes, agreed that nine years was long enough to run the program, affirmed that finances could support expanding equal recycling opportunities citywide, and noted that current recycling areas received smaller trash capacity than non‑recycling areas.
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The City Manager outlined details of the proposed curbside recycling expansion, explaining current bag and tote size limits, every‑other‑week recycling collection, the need for three specialized $400,000 trucks, observed 20–25% landfill cost savings, a reduction of the overall project cost from over $2 million to about $300,000, and plans to shift to four‑day trash pickup with alternating recycling weeks after a brief equipment lead time.
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Council Member Mills and the City Manager reviewed the inventory, durability, and replacement costs of trash and recycling totes, noting that about 2,800 existing carts remained in good condition, that repairs were handled with spare parts, and that future replacement—estimated around $300,000—would wait until the sanitation fund had sufficient carryover.
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Council Member Mills emphasized council unity and commitment to serving all residents, rejected any suggestion that members opposed recycling, and expressed concern about using $300,000 from the general fund for sanitation without repayment in light of other budget pressures and deferred capital needs.
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The City Manager explained that about $230,000 in general fund carryover would be used to complete the recycling expansion, urged council to create a policy for future carryover spending, and stressed the need to finish the program to counter misinformation by confirming that collected recyclables were taken to a dedicated facility and then hauled to Kimball in Twinsburg rather than landfilled.
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The City Manager noted that current zoning lacked rules on where garbage cans could be stored and indicated a desire to address front‑yard storage in the new zoning updates.
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President of Council Roskovics explained opposition to using carryover funds for the recycling expansion despite environmental support, citing concerns about future financial needs and state-level risks, while the City Manager argued the city was in a strong fiscal position and that the expenditure was warranted even as the President referenced resident complaints about other major projects like Main Avenue.
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Clerk of Council Millberg read titles of forthcoming resolutions and ordinances adopting the county hazard mitigation plan, authorizing purchase of recycling and rubbish containers, approving the 2027 tax budget, and addressing HVAC repairs and background check requirements, after which President of Council Roskovics invited citizens to speak during the public comment period.
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Speaker Liz Penner supported expanding recycling to all wards, arguing it would clean up neighborhoods, foster community pride and unity, and help residents in Wards 3–5 feel included while presenting council as more community‑minded.
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A speaker asked about building a garage and sidewalk responsibilities, prompting President of Council Roskovics and the City Manager to explain that the moratorium’s repeal would allow permitting and that property owners were responsible for sidewalks with access to a partial concrete reimbursement program, after which the speaker thanked city staff for recent ditch work.
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Clerk of Council Millberg read several proposed measures, after which President of Council Roskovics requested that the ordinance for recycling and rubbish containers be considered separately while council approved handling the remaining items in a consent agenda by a 6–0 vote.
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President of Council Roskovics recorded that council waived the reading and charter requirements and confirmed that all items of legislation had passed by a unanimous 6–0 vote.
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President of Council Roskovics returned to the ordinance authorizing the City Manager to purchase recycling and rubbish containers, and council voted 6–0 to waive both the full reading of the legislation and the charter requirement for two readings.
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President of Council Roskovics oversaw the final vote adopting the recycling and rubbish bins ordinance by a 5–1 margin and remarked on hoping for more judicious public comments and posts in the future.
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Clerk of Council Millberg read two ordinances repealing the existing background check requirement in Codified Ordinance Section 759.08 and enacting a new Section 759.08, and President of Council Roskovics recorded that both measures passed by a 5–1 vote.
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A speaker praised a Parks Board candidate as an asset, and President of Council Roskovics recorded council’s unanimous 6–0 vote to approve the appointment.
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