Jonta Perry collects two handfuls of trash bags during his garbage route through a neighborhood in Broken Arrow. A potential trash plan would bring cart-based collection to the city. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World file
BROKEN ARROW - Broken Arrow received high marks for being a great place to live and to raise a family, according to a recent survey of 342 households.
Respondents also praised the city for being a safe community with excellent police and fire departments.
When it comes to recycling, however, only 51 percent of residents said they had recycled a plastic bottle or aluminum can in the past year, which was one of the few areas that placed the city low in comparison to other cities its size and the national benchmark, the survey by the National Research Center showed.
But other numbers reflect that they might be willing to change that trend.
Ninety-five percent said they would strongly or somewhat support initiatives to help protect the environment, such as recycling, and 89 percent said they would be very or at least somewhat likely to participate in a once-a-week curbside recycling program if the city offered it.
With 51 percent saying they recycle, the Metropolitan Environmental Trust's drop-off recycling center in Broken Arrow is the busiest of its 12 centers throughout the metropolitan area.
Mayor Craig Thurmond said the center is the busiest because Broken Arrow is the largest suburb in Tulsa County.
While the much smaller Collinsville has the highest recycling rate per capita, it's also affected by neighboring communities that have no other recycling options and whose residents use the MET facility there, said Thurmond, a former MET trustee.
The city put off making a decision to change its trash service in June 2012 after a series of public meetings in April and May 2012 on adopting a volume-based system.
More than 600 people attended those meetings, and most of the reaction was critical of the proposed changes, which would require using carts instead of the city-provided trash bags. Many also were resistant to the idea of recycling.
Thurmond said last year's public meetings didn't reach the broad base of people the city wanted them to. Many of the same people ended up attending all of the meetings, he said.
It was decided to further research the issue, gather more citizen input and allow City Manager Thom Moton, who was hired in September, to be part of the process.
Customers in volume-based systems are charged based on the size of the cart they use for trash; a separate cart is included in the price for recycled items.
Tulsa switched to a volume-based system Oct. 1, and many Broken Arrow officials also wanted to see how the new system was accepted and to learn from any mistakes that the neighboring city might have made.
"It is a goal of the city to encourage recycling in some form. I think that's really probably where we're at," Thurmond said. "I assume before the end of the year, we'll discuss what program we want to present to the public."
Thurmond said that would include a decision on whether recycling will be voluntary or a requirement, as it is with the volume-based system.
It will be important to have residents' support moving forward, he said. Many residents have pushed for the decision to be made by a public vote.
The survey was sent to 1,200 randomly selected households, and 30 percent responded.
Susan Hylton 918-581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Survey: BA great place to live
Broken Arrow
Kevin Martin, 24, was arrested just after 6 p.m. Sunday after the crash in east Broken Arrow.
Ticket prices are $20 in advance, $24 at the door.
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