(Photo by Evan Bevins) Parkersburg City Clerk Connie Shaffer, left, looks over a box of petitions delivered to her office Friday afternoon by Parkersburg residents LaDonna Reid and Karen Riel. The petitions are for a referendum on a City Council ordinance approving a sanitation contract with Waste Management.

PARKERSBURG — Organizers of a petition aimed at repealing a Parkersburg City Council ordinance approving a contract for trash service delivered signatures to the city clerk’s office Friday afternoon, but it could be a while before the outcome is known.

The city charter requires signatures equal to 15% of the registered voters in the last regular election, which works out to 2,763. Organizers on Friday said they turned in about 3,100.

If certified, the referendum petition would force council to reconsider the ordinance authorizing a five-year contract with Waste Management that passed on a pair of 6-3 votes in January. If council does not vote to repeal the ordinance, the question would go before voters on an upcoming ballot.

“I’m glad that once this goes through and everything’s validated that we the people will have a chance to vote on this,” said LaDonna Reid, a member of the committee that organized the petition.

First, it has to be verified that the required signatures belong to registered voters in the city. Parkersburg’s charter gives the city clerk 20 days to certify whether it is sufficient.

City Attorney Blaine Myers said Friday that deadline might not be met.

He noted the city clerk has no legal authority to access voting records and must rely on the Wood County Clerk’s office to perform the verifications.

“The county clerk’s office is not subject to any requirements under our charter,” Myers said. “They are voluntarily assisting the city in this process, and we appreciate their help.”

He noted the county clerk’s office has other statutory duties, such as preparing for the May primary election.

“It is my understanding that under these circumstances and given the volume of signatures, the verification process may take several weeks,” Myers said. “If that is the case, it would be impossible for our city clerk to provide any certification within 20 days.”

Wood County Clerk Joe Gonzales said the last time his office assisted the city with verifying petition signatures, it was for an independent candidate in the 2024 municipal election. Zak Huffman, who was elected to the District 5 seat, turned in 50 signatures, twice as many as required. That took two to two-and-a-half days to certify, Gonzales said.

“It’s going to be a long process,” he said of certifying this petition. “My people are going to have to be working overtime.”

Another question that remains is whether the targeted ordinance is eligible for a referendum. Myers said in court filings and again on Friday that is still to be determined.

The charter says the referendum power “shall not extend to the budget or capital program or any emergency ordinance or ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of taxes or salaries of City officers or employees.”

The city agreed to an extended deadline for the petitions after the committee filed a request in Wood County Circuit Court, citing the winter weather and frigid conditions they said made gathering signatures harder.

The charter does allow for an amended petition to be filed. In court filings, the city said a failure to get enough signatures by the initial deadline should not be justification for an amended petition, but Myers indicated later that if some of the signatures submitted were disqualified, that could still allow for an amendment.

Under the contract, Waste Management will charge the city $17.65 per customer for the first two years of the contract, increasing to $18.89 in the third year, $20.21 in the fourth and $21.62 in the fifth.

Council voted Tuesday to approve the final reading of an ordinance reducing the monthly sanitation fee from $22 to $21, reflecting $19.50 for solid waste and a $1.50 recycling surcharge. Supporters of the petition objected, saying council should wait until the outcome of the petition is determined. Mayor Tom Joyce said the city would “cross that bridge when we come to it” but said they cannot continue to operate sanitation as it has been.

The city’s Sanitation Department was facing double-digit vacancies among 27 budgeted positions before a council committee voted in June to seek requests for proposals for contracting out solid waste and recycling services. Now the department is down to four full-time workers, who Joyce said have already made plans to retire, move to other positions or leave when Waste Management takes over.

To continue running trash routes, the city has been utilizing employees from other departments and paying them at overtime rates, with the additional money coming from the sanitation fund, as well as temporary workers.

Curbside recycling was suspended in May, with Joyce citing the manpower issues. A Parkersburg resident has filed a lawsuit over that, as the city is required by state law to offer curbside recycling.

A separate contract for Rumpke of Ohio to provide curbside recycling at an additional charge of $3.50 per month to participating customers was approved by council Tuesday in a 5-3 vote.

Many people opposed to contracting the service out have said the city should keep its Sanitation Department and offer higher wages to address the staffing issues. Limits on how much trash can be put out and charges for extra bags and bulky items have been one point of contention.

City officials recently said that even if the petition is successful, city-provided service would not continue and another solution would have to be pursued. That could involve residents signing up with approved haulers themselves, which council President Andrew Borkowski has said could be more expensive than the rates under this contract.