Brundidge residents’ garbage fees will increase by $1.50 per month if an ordinance introduced Tuesday passes.

The Brundidge Council held its first reading of the ordinance that will increase the solid waste fees at its Tuesday meeting. The fees would increase from $10 to $11.50 per monh.

Since July, the council has been paying an additional $1.40 out of pocket for each household’s garbage collection fees. Now, the council is passing that cost onto the residents.

A vote on the ordinance will be taken at the Dec. 16 meeting, which begins at 1 p.m. at Brundidge Station.

The council on Tuesday also voted to participate in the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel’s Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns in 2010.

“The purpose of the Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns is, of course, to bring tourists to Alabama but it is also to encourage towns to have homecoming weekends,” Mayor Jimmy Ramage said.

By participating in the “Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns, a town will receive a free historic marker and be included in a book of downtown homecoming celebrations.

“We were required to designate a date for our homecoming celebration and the date we chose is the last day in October, which is the date of our annual Peanut Butter Festival,” Ramage said.

Council member Lawrence Bowden said plans should begin now to expand the Peanut Butter Festival to attract those who were once a part of the Brundidge community back home.”