Council Corner: Supporting our local business community — one garbage bin at a time

Ashland has replaced some of its old garbage bins, left, with new ones, right, that can compact garbage, increasing capacity.
April 12, 2024

Ashland is offering programs to help business owners as the city emerges from the pandemic

By Tonya Graham

If you have been downtown recently, you probably noticed new, stylish rectangular garbage bins. These garbage bins come compliments of the city of Ashland. They are part of a program underway at the city to support our local business owners and make Ashland more welcoming to residents and visitors alike.

Tonya Graham
Beautification grants to businesses

The city launched the multipronged business support program last fall with beautification grants to help local business owners improve the appearance of their buildings. Awarded on a first-come, first served basis, the grants are offered to match the investments made by local businesses in upgrades, such as cosmetic improvements, outdoor lighting and seating, signs, landscaping and handicapped-accessible infrastructure. These grants can also address existing code violations.

All of the $175,000 set aside to be distributed by June has been awarded to 30 businesses stretching from Exit 14 through downtown. Another round of funding will be available July 1.

New snappy garbage bins

Back to the garbage bins. It may seem that they have appeared out of nowhere but, in fact, they have been carefully selected to solve challenges our business owners have brought to our attention since we emerged from the pandemic.

Last year, the first year the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was able to offer a full season since 2020, local businesses found that the garbage bins, which had worked well enough in the past, were frequently overloaded with garbage — especially on the weekends when garbage collection doesn’t take place. The unsightly view of overspilling garbage bins on our sidewalks in the downtown area was affecting how residents and visitors felt about spending time in the economic heart of our community. We received many complaints, and it was clear that something had to be done.

Rather than buying extra-large garbage bins to hold larger amounts of garbage, our team chose compacting bins that allow much more waste to be dropped into the bins between collection days. Because compacting bins need a source of electricity, solar seemed the best option.

At the same time, the city had been undertaking efforts to accentuate Ashland’s great features, so it made sense to add some artistic flair as other communities have done when upgrading to this style of bins. Therefore, photos from local artists of beautiful Southern Oregon scenic vistas are integrated into the design of the bins.

We care about the environment here in Ashland, so we were also looking for the best way to integrate recycling. But here’s the catch. The general public is terrible about sorting recycling and waste into separate bins. Absolutely terrible. So bad, in fact, that public recycling bins are often so contaminated with regular trash that the contents can’t be put with the recyclables when the bins are emptied.

Piloting the bins

As much fun as it would be, we aren’t talking about piloting flying garbage bins. But the city is doing a pilot program, placing 11 bins in our highest foot traffic areas to see how well they meet our needs. Some have recycling attached, some don’t. Will the public’s waste sorting skills be good enough to include recycling bins at other locations? We simply don’t know yet. But these bins are more expensive than regular bins, so we are testing them out before making a larger investment.

Once we know how well the bins are working, we’ll decide about other locations and what to do with the existing metal bins, which have their own place in Ashland history. We know the commercial area around Exit 14 needs additional bins and other areas may need them as well.

Streamlining city processes

We have also heard from local businesses that it can be very time-consuming and frustrating to navigate city regulations when they need to make changes to their buildings, signs, fences, etc. In response, the city is working to clarify and streamline regulations business owners encounter while also launching an online permit application process. There is a special focus on making it easier to host events in town through this process. More is in the works to support our local businesses now that we have hired an economic development specialist.

Updating our website

If you have tried to find information on our website, you know “challenging” isn’t the half of it. We recognized that before the last budget process and are working to fix it. The city will launch a new website later this spring to help you find what you are looking for and keep abreast of city decisions so that you can more easily participate when a decision is being made that is important to you. There will be a section to help businesses navigate local regulations that apply to them as well.

The moral of the story

Taken together, these efforts are designed to support our local businesses — those that rely on visitors and those that do not. We know it has been a rough few years and we are working hard to be a good partner to our business community.

While some find it entertaining to assume the worst about investments the city makes to improve our community, usually the truth is much more logical (and much less exciting) than what gets tossed about on social media. Something to remember is that the bigger the investment, the more time and thought has been put into identifying the best path forward.

We all want a beautiful, functional and welcoming community for all who chose to live in or visit Ashland. That value is one of the things that holds us together despite our many personalities, quirks and challenges.

So, if you see something new the city is doing (like garbage bins) and wonder how that came to be, please ask — through our “Let Curiosity Be Your Guide” button on our website (easy to find on the home page), directly to me (tonya@council.ashland.or.us) or to the entire City Council (council@ashland.or.us). We will do our best to get a timely answer for you. 

Email Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham at tonya@council.ashland.or.us. Email letters to the editor and viewpoint submissions to news@ashland.news.

Related story: Downtown Ashland gets new high-tech trash cans for $4,783 apiece (April 2, 2024)

Picture of Jim

Jim

Related Posts...

Our Sponsors

Conscious Design Build Ashland Oregon
City of Ashland Public Notice Ashland Oregon

Latest posts

Commissions to discuss Lithia Park master plan Wednesday

Ashland Parks and Recreation Commissioners will consider prioritizing portions of the Lithia Park Master Plan during an evening study session on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Formally adopted during the Oct. 4 APRC business meeting, the Lithia Park Masterplan identifies 37 recommendations for the park’s future.

Read More >

Voters flock to the ballot box at Ashland Public Library

Voters turned out to Ashland’s sole ballot box Tuesday morning outside the Ashland Public Library, some for the first time in their lives. The polls were open until 8 p.m. at the only ballot box in the city. Ashland police had a presence at the ballot box throughout the day and planned to stay until county election workers removed ballots from the box.

Read More >

Jackson County voter participation inches toward 60% mark as election looms

One day before the Nov. 5 general election, more than half of Jackson County’s 164,463 eligible voters had returned their ballots — and counting. The Ashland ballot boxes in the alley behind the library at 410 Siskiyou Blvd. will be open until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5. Under Oregon law, mailed ballots with a Nov. 5 or earlier postmarked will be accepted until Nov. 12.

Read More >

Parks & Recreation Commission Position 2 candidate Q&A

For the upcoming Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission election, all candidates were contacted by Ashland.news for interviews. All who responded were asked the same questions. For this article, Parks & Recreation Commission Position 2 candidates Ian Cropper, Rick Vann and Daniel Weiner say why they’re running what they’d like to get done.

Read More >

Our Sponsors

Pronto Printing Ashland Medford Oregon
City of Ashland Public Notice Ashland Oregon
Ashland.news House Ad

Explore More...

Southern Oregon Burners, a group of Burning Man participants based in Southern Oregon held a “decompression event” known as “Afterburnt” Saturday afternoon, Nov. 2, in Lithia Park. The event is aimed at fostering Burning Man connections and educating others about Burning Man principles. 
As the 2200 Ashland Street ad hoc committee faced the 11th hour of its available time to create a plan for the property, committee members wrestled with diametric opposition of perspectives and unease about uncertainty during a Wednesday evening meeting. 
The Ashland City Council will review an update on the city’s Climate Friendly Communities plan presented by Community Development Department head Brandon Goldman along with consultants from 3JConsulting, JET Planning, and EcoNorthwest who have been contracted to work with the city in developing the initiative at the Monday, Nov. 4, council study session, according to meeting materials. 
A training to help volunteers at the city of Ashland’s severe weather shelter offer trauma informed care will be held by registration only from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. The shelter needs volunteers for this season. Those interested in learning more can contact longtime Ashland shelter volunteer coordinator Avram Sacks at 541-220-7307.
A Southern Oregon University professor has been awarded a $250,000 grant for research in artificial intelligence that’s slated to benefit not only SOU, but UCLA and Cornell University.
ashland.news logo

Subscribe to the newsletter and get local news sent directly to your inbox.

(It’s free)

Don't Miss Our Top Stories

Get our newsletter delivered to your inbox three times a week.
It’s FREE and you can cancel anytime.