The meteoric rise of the cost of diesel brought a reluctant Paul Molinelli Sr. to both the Jackson City Council and Amador County Board of Supervisors this week. Molinelli's firm, ACES Waste Services, provides waste pick-up services throughout the county under a long-term franchise agreement that calls for one Consumer Price Index increase per year.

Molinelli requested the rate increases at the Jackson City Council meeting Monday evening and the board of supervisors meeting Tuesday morning. Both requests were approved. Both increases, one for the city of Jackson, the other for Franchise Area 3, which includes unincorporated upcountry areas, will begin in the fall. Jackson's waste service rate increase will begin Sept. 1 and will be reviewed Jan. 1, 2009. FA 3's increase will begin Oct. 1. In the interim, city and county officials will conduct negotiations with ACES to determine next year's rates.

"We've had a drop in revenues," Molinelli told Jackson City Council members Monday. Referring to Jackson's recent loss of businesses to Martell and a general economic downturn, he said, "A vibrant, thriving commercial base made it possible for us to keep residential rates low."

In addition to Jackson, ACES Waste Services provides waste pick-up services to the city of Ione, as well as unincorporated areas like Pine Grove, Pioneer, Volcano, Lake Camanche, Buena Vista, Kirkwood, and upcountry areas east of Jackson and Sutter Creek. In mid-June, Molinelli approached the board of supervisors requesting a 16.8 percent rate increase for Franchise Area 2, which includes the Lake Camanche area and other unincorporated areas surrounding Ione. The board approved the request with a 4-0 vote. District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli abstained from voting because he was formerly employed by ACES. He also abstained from Tuesday's vote. Every area in the county that ACES services has seen recent rate increases, Molinelli told the Ledger Dispatch. "We're all done, this round. We just hope it doesn't get worse."

Early in the year, diesel cost was under $3.50 per gallon. In July, the cost rose as high as $5, a 42 percent jump. Although the price dipped slightly last week, expectations for the future remain grim. On Monday, Molinelli received approval of a 10 percent emergency increase in garbage pick-up rates in Jackson. Alternative methods of dealing with this crisis, involving fuel funds or something resembling a fuel surcharge, were recognized as being too complex for quick decisions. During Monday's city council meeting, Jackson mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla suggested adding a "sunset clause."

"At the end of the year," she said, "there will be new negotiations for the coming year. At that time, we can continue or change the rate."

The price of fuel has gone up 50 percent from May 2007 to May 2008, according to Jason Craft, district manager for Waste Connections Inc., which owns Amador Disposal Services. Craft spoke at Tuesday's board meeting and the mid-June meeting. Waste pick-up rates have increased about 6 percent in both Sutter Creek and Amador City, Craft told the Ledger Dispatch, noting that there will continue to be rate increase requests throughout the county.

"In the last 19 months, we've had the highest increase in diesel fuel in our history and, at the same time, inflation is affecting us," Molinelli said. "To compound that, there is a slowdown in the economy."

There's also the issue of public health. During the council's public comment session, Jackson Planning Commission member Dave Butow talked about the trash piling up in the city's streets. "We don't want a garbage problem in the city," he said, "the rats are right across the street."