Last Updated on January 5, 2023, 8:29 PM | Published: January 5, 2023
MOORE, Okla. — The City Council for the City of Moore opened 2023 with one of the busiest meetings in years.
- The council hosted a public hearing on a previously proposed curbside recycling program, gathering public input and further discussing how to go about the proposal.
- The owner of “Larry the Pig” called on the council to allow her to keep her pet and change the city ordinance in accordance with official size guidelines after a video of animal control wrangling the escaped animal surfaced last week.
Recycling proposal public hearing
In December, the Moore City Council heard a presentation for a curbside recycling proposal from Republic Services.
Republic proposed that the city have a system similar to Norman, Edmond, and most other nearby cities; Moore citizens pay a mandatory fee of $4.30 per household, per recycling cart, per month, and Republic would pick them up on the same day normal trash is due.
The city also filled in some questions before citizens came up to speak.
The recycling center would be reduced to a cardboard-only service, and those savings will be passed on to Moore residents. The city seeks to reduce the curbside recycling program’s mandatory fee down to $3.90 for residents and $1.95 for seniors eligible for the senior citizen discount.
The recycling carts provided will be the same size as normal trash carts, which residents can compare to the $7.75 Moore currently charges for an additional trash cart.
The public hearing on the matter drew a variety of citizens, with most in support of the proposal.
One resident said that “I think adding the recycling can to the weekly pickup is a very, very reasonable cost that you are proposing to the constituents of Moore.”
Another pointed out how much of today’s trash can be recycled.
“2020 hit and the world changed dramatically… We all started ordering on Amazon.”
Cardboard boxes that usually fill up normal trash bins can be stuffed into recycling bins, saving busy residents a trip to the recycling center.
Although most residents vocalized support for the proposal, a few made sure their problems with the program were heard.
“There is a charge for convenience, and others think that everyone should be charged for their convenience,” said one Moore resident. “There is an additional cost to all who reside in households, which some people may not be able to afford.”
The same resident went on to say that “from my understanding, we have already voted down this issue twice, and the people have spoken.”
The City of Moore is no stranger to curbside recycling proposals.
Moore had a similar curbside recycling proposal with a $3 mandatory charge in 2016, and the citizens voted against the proposition.
Council members respond
The council had somewhat mixed opinions after hearing the citizenry speak.
Council Member Mark Hamm still wanted the issue to be resolved as a ballot proposition. “My only issue is, since we have had this come to a vote a couple of times, I believe that the city is divided on this issue.”
“For me to get behind this and to be supportive of it would be that it go to a vote [for] the people of Moore… I can’t not listen to the other half. I want to represent them both, and I want to represent them well.”
All other members of the council that spoke in favor of the proposal being passed without a public vote.
Council Member Danielle McKenzie pushed back, saying, “I’m an advocate of passing it, and not passing on the cost of another election to the people because I feel like we have heard from them.”
The proposal in 2016 failed by around 35 votes, or only a fraction of a percentage, according to McKenzie.
Council Member Melissa Hunt agreed, as she “received about 60-some emails and about 86% of those were in favor of recycling.”
The City Council made no decisions during the hearing, and will decide what to do with the proposal in the first meeting of February.
Larry the pig
Last Thursday, a curious pig made its way out of its fence and roamed around a Moore neighborhood.
The pig was eventually picked up by animal control, but Larry’s owner was told to remove the pig in two weeks or the city would start to serve citations for violating local ordinances.
The thing is, Larry’s owners had spoken with Moore City Hall and made sure to abide by all rules when they had gotten the mini pig in 2014.
Steffany, Larry’s owner, came to the council to ask that the city change the ordinance to reflect the official size guidelines established by the American Mini Pig Association.
Right now, the city requires that pigs be under 20” in height and under 75lbs. Larry is 22” tall and 144 lbs.
Steffany didn’t make her case to the council alone, either.
She was able to organize a petition #LARRYSTAYSMOORE and gathered over 4,500 signatures from concerned Moore residents, veterinarians, and even garnered letters from the American Mini Pig Association.
Most of the chairs in the chamber were filled with supportive citizens hoping to see Larry stay in Moore.
Steffany wants the ordnance changed to include all 14 breeds of mini pigs. To do that, the rules must allow pigs which are 25” tall and weigh up to 350lbs, according to official size guidelines set by the American Mini Pig Association.
Council Members sympathetic
The council was accepting of Steffany’s requests and immediately worked to relieve Larry of his 2-week removal deadline. The council now looks to restructure the ordinance to be more inclusive to mini pig owners.
City Manager Brooks Mitchell stated that “We’ll bring [an ordinance] proposal back to council and there is an administrative hold on the two-week limit, so you don’t have to worry about that.”
Although Larry the pig garnered national attention, the Moore city council was understanding from the start. No council member denounced a change to the ordinance, and many argued for it.
Council Member Melissa Hunt said that “My concern about our ordinance is…you go get a pig, it’s gonna be your family member, then [years] down the road, the city of Moore says sorry, they aren’t your family member because now they’re too fat.”
The council handled the issue smoothly, and took responsibility for the inaccurate and outdated ordinance.
The Moore city council meets again Tuesday, January 17th at 6:30 PM.
Damian Powell is our government reporter for the smaller municipalities in the OKC metro such as Moore, Norman, Bethany, and Warr Acres. Damian is studying Political Science at the University of Oklahoma.
