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PARKERSBURG — A list of signatures ruled invalid and the reasons for those determinations is expected to be provided to the committee seeking a referendum on the ordinance approving Parkersburg’s sanitation contract with Waste Management.

That, according to City Attorney Blaine Myers, would start the 10-day period for petitioners to try to gather an additional 672 signatures of registered city voters in an effort to force Parkersburg City Council to reconsider the ordinance or put the question before the voters.

At the end of February, the petition committee turned in to the city clerk’s office a referendum petition with 2,953 signatures. The Wood County Clerk’s Office checked the signatures against voter registration records for the city and determined 862 were invalid.

The petitioners filed a motion with Wood County Circuit Court to compel the city to provide a breakdown of why the signatures were declared invalid, saying that could allow them to get people who made errors to sign again. The city argued it did not have the information, since the county clerk is the holder of those records, and that it was not required to produce it. Judge J.D. Beane ordered the county to provide the information to the city and the city to provide it to the petitioners before the 10-day period to collect additional signatures could begin.

“The list will be reviewed, digitally scanned and provided to the committee on Monday,” Myers said Friday. “Under the terms of the court’s order, the 10-day amendment period begins the same day.”

Edward Escandon, a member of the petition committee, said if the list is received today it would be “day zero” and the committee would begin collecting signatures on Tuesday.

“I can predict with high confidence that we will far exceed the necessary number of signatures in the 10-day period,” he said. “We have more volunteers now and expect to obtain a number far above what is required.

“I call on the mayor and the City Council members that support this privatization scheme to reverse course,” Escandon said. “They could be riding this wave of public opinion. It’s not too late!”

Contracting out city trash and recycling pickup has been discussed for nearly a year as the city struggled with vacancies and other manpower issues in the Sanitation Department. Curbside recycling service was suspended in May and would be provided under a separate, subscription-based contract with Rumpke

Critics of the plan to shutter the municipal sanitation service and contract with private companies have said Parkersburg should have increased wages, particularly starting pay. City officials have said efforts to improve recruitment and retention were ultimately unsuccessful.

Mayor Tom Joyce has said that a successful referendum would only invalidate the contract approved in January with Waste Management, which the company has yet to sign as the referendum effort continues. The city is down to just two dedicated sanitation employees, with workers from other public works departments and temporary employees covering the duties of the department, which was budgeted for 27 workers.

Joyce said last week the city has heard from some people who signed the petition and said they did so thinking it would restore city-owned sanitation. He offered people the opportunity to remove their signatures from the petition by submitting a letter to that effect.

If the contract is invalidated, Joyce has said residents would have to sign up for their own trash service with eligible providers.

Myers has also said he does not believe the ordinance is subject to the referendum provision of the charter, since it involves the allocation of money, nearly $15 million over the course of the five-year contract. That question has not been addressed in court, with Beane so far ruling on questions related to the petition process itself.

Committee members originally made court filings on their own, but they are now being represented by the ACLU of West Virginia.