Money on roads

On Tuesday (Sept. 5), the Chico City Council voted to earmark funds generated by the city’s waste-hauling franchise agreement for roadway repair.

Under the new agreement, set to go into effect next month, Waste Management will handle all residential accounts and split the commercial accounts with Recology. In turn, the haulers will pay the city 10 percent of gross revenues, totaling an estimated $800,000 more in annual fees.

The council discussed how to spend the money at the request of Mayor Sean Morgan, who said there is a “clear nexus” between Chico’s deteriorating roadways and the waste haulers’ heavy trucks. Councilman Andrew Coolidge made a motion to direct the funding to capital roadway projects for the next five years. It passed 4-2, with Randall Stone and Ann Schwab dissenting. Councilman Karl Ory was absent.