Very little has changed in the efforts by waste management officials to ensure 100 percent compliance by Bonney Lake citizens. The municipal code states all residents who create waste are required to dispose of it through the garbage collection company under contract by the city.

DM Disposal and the City Council have been brainstorming ways to encourage participation. In December there were approximately 500 residences that were without garbage service. At the council workshop March 5, Facilities Coordinator Gary Leaf stated 350 residents were still without garbage service. There are a couple motivators behind the recent push for enrollment.

The Public Safety Committee chair Councilman Mark Hamilton said, “It’s not a huge problem, but it is a public health concern. We have to know how people are dealing with solid waste.”

Another issue is the contract between the city of Bonney Lake and DM Disposal that states all residents in Bonney Lake must enlist for garbage pickup. Without 100 percent participation, the city could be considered in breach of its contract.

The reason DM Disposal required everyone to participate boils down to economics. If everyone isn’t signed up for the service — and paying the monthly fee to DM — the company’s operating costs won’t match the projections laid out in the 2009 contract.

Failure to sign up for garbage service is a class I civil infraction, punishable by up to $250 in fines.

Hamilton said city officials recognize that the current fines are difficult to enforce and the primary goal is to enroll as many people as possible on a voluntary basis, to avoid enforcing the fine.

Hamilton said he believes most people who are not signed up don’t realize the importance of it. He said they also may not be aware on average it is less expensive to sign up with DM Disposal then to make individual trips to the dump.