The City of Washington is continuing to negotiate on expanded hours of service at its yard waste center.

The center’s current hours are 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7-10 a.m. on six Saturdays each in the spring and fall. After City Council Member Steven Gault requested at a previous council meeting that the city staff expand hours, City Administrator Brent Hinson and Waste Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Jason Whisler proposed during this week’s meeting that during the same weeks in the fall they are open on Saturdays, they would stay open until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Hinson explained that this would keep them with a fully supervised site, and would not present any additional expense for physical improvements on the site. The Saturdays they plan to be open this fall are October 16th, 23rd, and 30th and November 6th, 13th, and 20th.

Gault stated that this proposal doesn’t come close to what he and Hinson discussed, and he would prefer having additional hours on Saturdays. Council Member Elaine Moore echoed that the current hours can be difficult for commuters to be able to visit the center, and Council Member Danielle Pettit-Majewski voiced support for the staff’s proposal, stating it’s easier to add hours than to later subtract. Council Member Fran Stigers motioned that they send this item back to the city staff for further review, which was approved.