Documented by Kristina Mansfield
What happened: At its Wednesday meeting, the Madera City Council unanimously approved a 6% increase to multi-family residential solid waste fees.
The increase applies to multi-family dwellings, such as apartments, and goes into effect on Oct. 1.
The council approved increases for most other planning department fees earlier this year, but the multi-family garbage fee was left out of that action.
According to the staff report, the increase is anticipated to generate $15,200 in planning fees.
The city will also take steps toward hiring a consultant to prepare a comprehensive review of all the city’s rates to review prior to the fiscal year 2024-25 budget review.
And also: Parks & Community Services Director Joseph Hebert provided an update on the parks department, which highlighted the current status of 11 in-progress projects.
The report included updates about the Sunrise Rotary Sports Complex playground equipment and the Vernon McCullough River Trail cleanup efforts, among others.
Hebert said the city’s work to keep the river trail’s underpasses clear from debris carried over into the weekend hours.
“Some of you walk these trails, and there’s been people hiding in some of that vegetation so we’ve been trying to trim back some of that,” he said.
The council praised Hebert and his team for their ongoing work and requested regular updates moving forward.
“The trail is looking pretty good,” said Council member Artemio Villegas “Every park, on any side of the town, is good. Thank you for that and keep it going.”
Up next: The Madera City Council will meet again on Sept. 20.