Municipal Services Committee Denies Resident’s Appeal Of $75 Tire Collection Fee

The Municipal Services Committee met 02/21/2022. Much of the meeting was taken up by discussion of the No Mow May resolution, but they did also handle other business one item of which was an appeal by a resident for a $75 fee he received after the city collected a tire from his curb.

James appeared and stated essentially what he had written in his letter to the committee. The tire was never intended to be picked up, and they had not received a notice from the city telling them the tire needed to be moved. “Had we seen a notice we would have moved the tire. It was actually not for pickup.”

He then reiterated that the ticket from the city said there had been a notice attached to the trash can, but there had not actually been a notice on the trash can. If there had been a notice, they would have moved the tire.

He went on to explain that the tire was an inside joke between themselves and a neighbor, and they were using it as a movie prop.

He then reiterated that the tire was never meant for pickup, and they never received a notice, otherwise they would have moved the tire away from the curb area.

The tire had been moved around for a period of time, and at that point was on the curb, but it was not intended for pickup. They didn’t want it picked up and were surprised when it disappeared and wondered what happened to it.

He finished up by reiterating that they never received a notice and that if they had, they would have removed the tire. That was why he was contesting the $75 fee.

Director of Public Works Paula Vandehey said that the department’s normal process is to put a hang tag on the garbage can. She wondered if someone had removed it or it had blown off in the wind. Their intent had been to place the notice because it looked to them like the tire had been placed out for collection.

Deputy Director Nathan Loper added that there was not a policy requirement to provide notification but rather it was done as a courtesy. The tire had been out on the terrace area for a couple weeks so that was why they picked it up.

Alderperson Chad Doran (District 15) made a motion to deny the appeal of the $75 fee. After having heard the information presented, he said, “Our job here is really to remind homeowners of what the rules are about putting items up for pickup and having things on the curb. And as the staff has said, it had been out there for several weeks, whether the attempt was made and whether or not the resident saw the notice, it’s our responsibility as homeowners to know what the rules are, and I guess the staff did have to send a crew out to pick it up. There is an expense for that. Unfortunate as the circumstances may be, you know, that becomes the homeowner’s issue at that point.”

Alderperson William Siebers (District 1) wanted to clarify if the tire had been out for “several weeks” as Alderperson Doran had stated or “two weeks” as Deputy Director Loper had stated.

James answered that it had been out, just not along the terrace, and had been moved around.

Alderperson Siebers responded that the issue with the tire being on the terrace was that that location indicated it was supposed to be picked up. He wanted to know how long it had been out there.

Deputy Director Loper said they noticed it on week one, didn’t pick up on week two, and did finally pick it up on week three. 

The committee members had no further questions. Before taking a vote, Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3) who was the chairperson of the committee explained to James that the committee’s vote would not be the final decision. Rather, that would be made by the Common Council at its meeting the following week.

The committee then voted 4-0 to deny the appeal.

James asked if he had to come to the Common Council meeting.

Alderperson Firkus explained that he could attend and address the full Council at that time if he wished, but he didn’t have to and could just email the Council if he preferred. James indicated he would email because the Council meeting didn’t fit with his schedule.

[Personally, I’d like to see the movie this tire had been starring in. Seems a little tragic that its big acting break ironically ended up resulting in its untimely transport to the dump where it will now be lost to time.]

View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=922397&GUID=189A4237-2841-4AF6-A758-ACF6AEDFE307