Back in April, Kevin Whited wrote about (temporarily only a) Councilwoman Carol Alvarado’s grease trap revenue stream. Today, KTRH’s Brent Fuller has more on what is obviously a pressing issue:
City Council has approved about $55,000 for what are known as fat-trapper bags and bag holders, which will be distributed at some local apartment complexes later this year. The Public Works Department says its an effort to get people to think about where they’re discarding greases and oils.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill White’s administration is proposing a new law which puts tighter controls on restaurants and other businesses who use grease traps. The specifics haven’t been nailed down yet. But Council Member Carol Alvarado, who’s been working on the plan, says it will require those businesses to clean out the traps four times a year, and pay a $50 permit fee. “We would raise about $700,000 from those permit fees, and that would go to hire 12 inspectors to enforce the program”, said Alvarado.
Alvarado said the proposal could also include requirements that new apartments would also have to install grease traps. However, officials say they can’t find another city in the U.S. that regulates disposal of greases and oils at apartments.
The plan is expected to come before city council for a vote in a couple of weeks.
Punishing Houston restaurants for drain-clogging grease from apartment complexes seems unfair. In a KHOU-11 story from April, Councilwoman Sue Lovell admitted that this problem stems mostly from entities other than restaurants. Yet with Alvarado’s plan, restaurants will have to foot the bill!
Nice work, Councilwoman. What next? How about charging all Houston kennels a fee to fix the city’s dog poop problem? How can Houston deal with its air pollution problem? Fine businesses that sell cigarettes and gasoline? Tax ranchers with gassy cows?
