Packed City Hall Sees Peachtree City Trash Plan Defeated 4–1

The Peachtree City Council chambers were at capacity Thursday night, with 197 people packed into a room with only 125 chairs, according to Fire Chief Clint Murphy. People stood several deep at the entrance and lined the walls — and all but about a dozen of them had come to talk trash.

Twenty of the 22 public commenters spoke against the city’s proposal to move residential garbage collection to a single provider, Amwaste, which is not one of the city’s current authorized residential trash haulers.

Nearly an hour of public comment was followed by another stretch of council discussion. When it was finally over, council voted 4–1 to terminate the proposal and leave Peachtree City’s current solid waste collection system in place.

Councilwoman Suzanne Brown made the motion to end “any and all council and staff actions” on the exclusive solid waste proposal.

“Trust me, our citizens clearly told us what they want in hundreds of emails that we have received, and I agree,” Brown said. “We need the right to choose for ourselves the company that we use, the level of service and how much we pay.”

The city had received approximately 350 emails on the subject.

Brown also rejected the idea that roughly 1,400 homes without individual trash contracts necessarily represented 1,400 households illegally dumping garbage.

“If they were, that would far exceed what trash we’re pulling off the paths,” she said.

Instead, Brown called for the city to collect better data on illegal dumping, identify problem areas, add signs, and consider trail cameras and other enforcement measures.

Councilman Michael Polacek said the process began as an effort to determine whether consolidating trash service could lower residents’ costs and provide additional services. After studying the options and listening to residents, however, he said the trade-offs did not justify eliminating choice.

“There simply aren’t enough trade-offs for me from a policy standpoint to justify shift to a single vendor,” Polacek said.

He said concerns about road wear proved difficult to quantify, while illegal dumping appeared to be concentrated rather than citywide.

“I’m not in the business of stripping anyone’s choice away in order to accomplish that,” Polacek said.

Councilwoman Laura Johnson similarly said there were legitimate underlying concerns, including yard debris and illegal dumping, but called the single-provider proposal too broad a solution.

She compared it to being a well-behaved child in a classroom where everyone was punished for the actions of a few.

“This is what this feels like to me,” Johnson said.

Councilman Clint Holland acknowledged that his own position had changed during the months of discussion.

“This is one of those situations that the citizens have spoken clearly, often, and loudly on this,” Holland said. “And if we can’t hear it, then we don’t belong in these chairs.”

Mayor points to different survey result

Mayor Kim Learnard cast the sole vote against terminating the proposal.

Before the vote, Learnard acknowledged that she knew where the council stood.

“I know how to count,” she said.

But Learnard said she believed she needed to represent residents whose views were not reflected by the packed council chamber and the hundreds of emails opposing the change.

She pointed to preliminary results from a ZenCity survey designed to reach a cross-section of Peachtree City residents. The question asked whether respondents would support one citywide company providing trash, recycling, yard waste, and bulk-item pickup if the cost were approximately the same as or less than their existing trash and recycling service.

Learnard said 66% responded positively.

She listed potential advantages supporters saw in a single-provider system, including fewer trucks, less noise and emissions, greater accountability for spills and litter, trash cans at the curb only once a week, expanded services, and a system in which every household participates.

“I heard you all,” Learnard said. “And I will speak for the rest of the city who couldn’t be here or isn’t otherwise hearing their voice here tonight.”

The motion passed 4–1, effectively ending the current push for exclusive residential trash collection.

It was 8:05 p.m.

Council took a 10-minute break.

Then came the $60 million budget

The trash vote did not end the meeting.

Council still had a property variance, multiple organizational budgets, an annexation study, and — tucked among them — Peachtree City’s fiscal year 2027 operating and capital improvement budget.

Council also unanimously approved the final draft of an annexation study examining several areas around the city for possible future expansion. Consultant Geoff Koski stressed that approving the study did not approve any annexation. “This is a planning document,” he said, explaining that any actual annexation would require a separate process and future council action.

By the time City Manager Justin Strickland reached the city budget, only about 10 people who were not employees remained in the room.

Strickland noted that council had already held a budget workshop in June and the required public hearing in July. Rather than repeat the full presentation after the long evening, he moved quickly to the bottom line.

Total sources of funds were approximately $60.7 million, with expenditures balancing at approximately $60.79 million.

Council approved the budget unanimously.

There was no packed room for that vote.

The hundreds who had filled City Hall earlier had already gotten the decision they came to hear.