Wellington residents can brace for a bump in fees when they put out the trash and recycling in fiscal year 2026, though not quite as much as other recent increases.
The numbers translate to $320 for curbside pickup for most residential customers, Deputy Village Manager Tanya Quickel told the Wellington Village Council at a meeting Tuesday, June 10.
“That’s a $10 increase from the current rate of $310,” she said.
A year ago, the hike was $20 more.
Fees for emptying centralized containers will rise $5 to a $235 rate, similar to a $5 increase last year.
The village’s contractor collects the refuse in coordination with the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County, which asks municipalities to start helping it plan rates in June. The fees are set to be finalized by August.
The money covers projected operating costs and contract expenses. The increase adds $259,000 to the fiscal year 2026 village budget for solid waste, Quickel said. The fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
The council voted 4-0 for a resolution approving the proposed rates. Vice Mayor Tanya Quickel was absent following a death in the family, Mayor Michael Napoleone said.
In other business:
- The council voted 4-0 to approve the first reading of changes to the village’s comprehensive plan to make way for a proposed mixed-use development known as “The Marketplace at The Wellington.”
It’s a central part of a larger concept backed by Wellington Lifestyle Partners to develop homes and businesses around a revamped equestrian showgrounds.
The proposal calls for an 80-room hotel, 89 residences, and shops, restaurants and offices on nearly 18 acres at the southwest corner of Greenview Shores and South Shore boulevards. The property is currently zoned for commercial use and is not in the Equestrian Preserve Area.
A second reading and other matters associated with the project will come back before the council in coming months.
Looking at the project, the village’s Planning, Zoning & Adjustment Board unanimously agreed on May 21 to amend the village’s comprehensive plan and change the Future Land Use Map designation from commercial to mixed-use, gave a conditional-use approval for the hotel and approved master-plan amendments to accommodate the 89 multi-family residential units.
One condition that could be imposed by the village in time for a follow-up meeting that involves master-plan amendments, probably in August, is beefing-up traffic monitoring. If traffic volume warrants it, they could make the developer pay for certain road improvements, such as bigger spaces to accommodate U-turns, larger medians, lengthened turn lanes or even new traffic signals on affected roads.
“They’d be required to fund modifications to the roadway,” Napoleone said.
A similar condition already exists for parking. Builders are proposing 629 parking spaces, but note they are ready to build a second parking garage to get to 746 spaces if annual monitoring shows a need for it.
- The council agreed by a 4-0 vote to modify a condition of approval for building homes in Phase 2 of the Lotis Wellington project on State Road 7, north of Forest Hill Blvd.
Under a previous condition, builders had to complete a clubhouse by the time they had constructed 20 homes on this portion of the project. Applicants argued that the homes for sale could be efficiently built in batches in as little as six to seven months per residence, but the clubhouse would likely take a year, so they wanted to minimize construction noise and disruption to neighbors by requiring that the new clubhouse had to be built by the 86th home out of 172 total.
The first home construction could begin in September, officials said.
- The council also agreed to codify something Wellington does already in practice, and formally set the rules to put the qualifying period for candidates for municipal office at two weeks in November.
In addition, it voted to modify regulations for who sits on a rarely used village canvassing board. Both matters would eventually come before voters on the ballot for approval, officials said.
Not addressed at this point: Whether Wellington should drop or change its requirement for a runoff election if no candidate receives at least 35 percent of the vote.
