Shawnee City Commission Curbside Recycling Meeting

POSTPONED!
City of Shawnee Curbside Recycling Meeting has been postponed due to weather concerns. We will post the new date for you as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, please email you commissioners and let them know the reasons you support curbside recycling. Those that support need to hear from you!

wes.mainord@shawneeok.org - Mayor Wes Mainord
pstephens@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Pam Stephens
linda.agee@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Linda Agee
jharrod@shawneeok.org - Commissioner James Harrod
keith.hall@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Keith Hall
jdwinterringer@shawneeok.org - Commissioner John Winterringer
ssmith@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Steve Smith

Monday, May 20th

Shawnee City Hall 

 Downtown

4:30pm

The city of Shawnee is considering a curbside recycling program for our community for implementation this year and is seeking input from citizens. If you want curbside recycling in Shawnee, this is your one and only time to say so. Come to the meeting in overwhelming numbers to make your collective voices heard! Contact Shawna Turner at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com for more information.

A decision will be made about Curbside Recycling for Shawnee in the next 60 days. If you'd like our community to have this service, call or write your commissioners today.

wes.mainord@shawneeok.org - Mayor Wes Mainord

pstephens@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Pam Stephens

linda.agee@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Linda Agee

jharrod@shawneeok.org - Commissioner James Harrod

keith.hall@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Keith Hall

jdwinterringer@shawneeok.org - Commissioner John Winterringer

ssmith@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Steve Smith

Here are few reasons why you should act:

Letter to the Editor:

          In previous articles I have attempted to outline a rationale for moving to curbside recycling in Shawnee:  it increases participation in recycling, it conserves resources, it preserves landfill space, it sends a message that Shawnee isn’t a backward city, ignoring the gains made in other communities, it saves the city money in the long run and helps to minimize future rate increases and, ultimately, it is fair, asking people to pay for what they throw away.  If these reasons aren’t enough, just consider what surrounding communities are doing and ask yourself, “do we want to be left behind?”

          Here is a summary:  Edmond has once a week collection, and 72% of their citizens said they would be willing to pay  more for recycling;  OKC has a 30% participation rate in their recycling program, recycle weekly and are considering Pay-as-you-throw as an incentive to increase that percentage; Norman has $14/mo trash fees with $4.00 extra for recycling, and this is mandatory;  Ada initiated curbside recycling in 2011, and participation has gone up from 25 to 75% with participation voluntary but collection fees mandatory; Mustang did a survey that revealed that 47% of households were willing to pay up to 5.50/month to recycle, on top of their base rates; Stillwater just initiated curbside recycling after conducting a pilot project, scheduled to last 6 months but abbreviated to 3 months because of the positive feedback received from the pilot project households.

          Each community has a program  designed for its unique needs, and we can do the same here in Shawnee.  I challenge you to consider why these surrounding communities can have curbside recycling, and Shawnee does not.  We need to move forward, not because it is the right thing to do but, simply, because, with the right formula, it makes dollars and cents sense.  I am optimistic that our city Commission and the owners of Central Disposal can come up with a program that will benefit all the stakeholders, and that will not be a disadvantage to the bottom lines of the city, Central Disposal, and, especially, to those citizens who are struggling to make ends meet.

          The city Commission will be considering modifying the contract with Central Disposal to include curbside recycling in the next several months, and I ask you to contact your commissioner and voice your opinion of this change in the contract.  The details will have to be determined by the commission and Central Disposal and will be discussed in a public forum before any final vote, but I know your commissioner would like to hear from you.  It is time to get this done!Cody Deem
Shawnee

Paula Waters, Avedis Foundation, to Speak at March Meeting

 

Paula Waters with Avedis Foundation spoke about how the foundation plans to support health, wellness and quality of life in Shawnee at our March Meeting.

Avedis Foundation supports projects that directly benefit people from the communities we serve. Our interests include initiatives that nurture the community by promoting healthy lifestyles in one
or more of these areas:

• Physical wellness
• Intellectual well-being
• Emotional wellness
• Social well-being
• Environmental well-being
• Spiritual well-being

We greatly appreciated Paula's presentation and discussion. I'm glad so many were able to join us. We'll meet again on May 9th at the Shawnee Community Garden on Park and Wall Sts. at 6:30pm. Our speaker will be announced later this month. Thanks as always for your ongoing support of Sustainable Shawnee.

City Commission Adopts Proposed Bike Routes for Shawnee

I just wanted to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who attended last night's commission meeting and wrote emails of support to our commissioners. When I asked for the bike route supporters in the room to stand last night, fully two-thirds of the audience stood. Your emails created an opportunity to discuss the proposed plan and your attendance conveyed the deep community support for cycling and running in Shawnee. Each of you was responsible for making a difference last night so thank you for caring and for "showing up" in the many ways you did. Having said all that, there's still work to be done so roll up your sleeves and let's get started!!!!
Please take a moment to express your gratitude to the Commissioners that supported the bike route plan:

wes.mainord@shawneeok.org - Mayor Wes Mainord
pstephens@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Pam Stephens
keith.hall@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Keith Hall
ssmith@shawneeok.org - Commissioner Steve Smith

Thank you!

Bike Routes in Shawnee!

Sustainable Shawnee hosted Randall Entz Transportation Planner for the City of Oklahoma City to speak about OKC's experience with bike routes and trails.

Mr. Entz observed,"Commerce happens at 3 mph not 30." Providing for pedestrians and cyclists and vehicle traffic has anecdotally increased business for OKC's downtown. "We've noticed a return of locally-owned restaurants and shops which is great for the community." Mr. Entz also believes the areas where bike lanes and paths are designated are safer for both drivers and pedestrians/cyclists." ignage needs to be clear and not open to interpretation. As drivers and cyclists learn the rules of the road together, accidents will hopefully be reduced. He hopes to have actual data in the coming months as these improvements are studied further.

The City of Shawnee is drafting a bike route plan for our community now. The early plan will be reviewed by the Traffic Commission on January 22nd. The commission welcomes public comment on the plan especially from people who frequently bike, jog or walk on our city streets. Contact Mike Ludi, Assistant City Engineer, at mludi@shawneeok.org with bike route questions or comments and help our community have the most "user-friendly" plan possible.

Shawnee's proposed bike route plans are in the news! Here's the link for a recent Shawnee News-Star article and be on the look out for an upcoming peice in the Shawnee Outlook!

Click here for a Mr. Entz's complete presentation and like Sustainable Shawnee's Facebook page for updated bike route information.

Sustainable Shawnee's 2013 Christmas Party!

Sustainable Shawnee held our annual Christmas Party at Zocalo's Mexican Restaurant in Tecumseh this year. We enjoyed a wonderful vegetarian and vegan buffet along with other carnivorous favorites! We had a stumpendous turnout including many members from the Shawnee Peace Fellowship! Thanks to everyone who attended and to the staff of Zocalo's who worked so hard to serve us. Remember Zocalo's offers fresh and healthy Vegan/Vegetarian dinner options every Saturday evening of the year so stop by often!
We look forward to working with the City of Shawnee on a new bike route plan and finding a cost effective way to bring curbside recycling to our community.       Merry Christmas to all and let's get ready for 2013!

Sustainable Shawnee Elects 2013 Slate of Officers!

Thanks to everyone who's offered to give their time in 2013! Here's next year's fabulous volunteers!

 

President - Shawna Turner
Vice President - Timothy McCollum

Treasurer - Cody Deem

Secretary - Shelby Shackelford

 

You don't have to be an officer to do your part! If you have an interest in water issues, recycling, community gardening, local foods or another topic we've never tackled before, we have a place for you. Questions? Comments? Contact us at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com!

GreenStar Recycling Speaks on the Economics of Recycling in Oklahoma

We had a hugely successful meeting with GreenStar Recycling executive, Robert Pickens. He provided best practice examples for what has been successful and what hasn't been so successful for recycling programs nationwide. He will be a well-informed and valuable asset to the City as they explore their curbside recycling options with the key stakeholders in our community.  We look forward to working with him in the coming days. Meanwhile, Sustainable Shawnee continues to work on our curbside recycling recommendations. The recycling committee will meet Monday, November 12th at 4pm at SIPS downtown to discuss our plans. Join us if you're free. We need your feedback and support to make curbside recycling a reality in Shawnee. Questions? Comments? Email us at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com. 

Fun Day at Shawnee's Community Garden!

Professor Timothy McCollum and his OBU students welcomed over twenty students to the Shawnee Community Garden this morning. Unfortunately, it was a cold start but the kids had a great time learning about farming and growing their own food. Many thanks to OBU for helping make our garden a place of learning for everyone! Visit Sustainable Shawnee's facebook page for more event photos and stay tuned for next week's Countywide article.

City of Shawnee to Submit Bike Route Plan to Traffic Commission

The City of Shawnee is presently working on a bike route plan for the community based in part on the Master Trails Plan approved in 2009. The plan is likely to include both on-street and off-street linkages to ensure bikers, joggers and walkers have safe routes throughout the city. "This is a huge step forward for Shawnee, says Sustainable Shawnee President, Shawna Turner. I would like to personally thank Justin Erickson, City Planning Director, and his staff for their support of this measure. They really made it happen."

The bike route plan will be submitted to the Shawnee Traffic Commission for public comment on Tuesday, November 27th at 6:30pm. The meeting will take place at the City Hall downtown in commission chambers. Everyone is welcome to attend and comments are encouraged. If you'd like a copy of the plan in advance contact the city clerk's office at 878-1604.