The Public Works Committee recommended discontinuing rentals of the 22-year-old trolley, which barely breaks even but occasionally breaks down. Officials said parts are scarce and a new trolley would cost more than $100,000.
“We don’t have a backup any more,” Rome City Manager John Bennett said. “It’s mostly rented for weddings and, if it breaks down on the day we rent it, the poor bride is stuck out there without any way to transport the wedding party.”
The iconic trolley does have supporters on the board and it is unclear if the committee recommendation will be accepted without debate.
If it is, the next step is to decide what to do with the vehicle.
Public Works Director Jamie McCord said he’s found two comparable trolleys for sale online — in the $15,000 to $20,000 range — but their mileage is only about a quarter of the 170,000 miles racked up on the Toonerville Trolley.
Other suggestions include removing the engine and installing it at a public playground or keeping it mothballed except for special events.
The board caucuses at 5 p.m. and starts its regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Broad St. Both meetings are open to the public.
Commissioners also are scheduled to consider a new garbage collection fee schedule in conjunction with Aug. 1 roll-out of a new cart system.
The tiered fee schedule will eliminate the 21-35 gallon collection level and bump the subscribers to a 65-gallon cart at $8.40 a month.
“Those people, a majority of them, are putting out more than they’re paying for,” Commissioner Buzz Wachsteter said.
Original plans called for an increase to $10.65 a month, but the bid to supply the carts came in lower than expected. The service also includes a 65-gallon cart for recyclables and a 95-gallon yard waste cart at $1.30 a month.
Resolutions to close a part of an alley between West Ninth Street and West 10th Street and an undeveloped part of Etowah Terrace at East Forest Street also are on the agenda.
The city is working out a deal with the Etowah Terrace property owners to trade the road frontage for Kingfisher Trail right of way along the river.
Public hearings on both proposed closures would be scheduled for the end of June.
A first reading also is scheduled on a previously advertised plan to close the section of North Fourth Avenue that runs through the 9-acre Hight Homes tract on Turner McCall Boulevard.
Madison Retail signed a contract in late April to buy the property from the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority for a shopping center.
The public hearing and final vote on the road closing will be at the board’s June 7 meeting.
Read the complete agenda packet.
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