In response to citizen demand, the city has walked back its hard line on brush and limb pickup.
This week city owned trash trucks began the heavy lifting on townwide cleanup of storm debris and accumulated brush.
A month or so ago, Mayor Bill Seitter started the ball rolling by suggesting the city run periodic routes to take care of brush and limbs too large for Veterans Waste, the city’s trash collection agency, to pick up. Big limbs can damage trash truck mechanisms and large amounts of brush fill a truck quickly, leaving no room for household garbage. Therefore, Veterans only picks up small bundles of brush or weeds.
As late summer storms showed, that wasn’t sufficient to keep the town looking cared for. An new ordinance was constructed that keeps the city from breaching the contract with Veterans and drew the limits to the pickup program.
Those limitations include every other month pickup following the initial routes in November and December, and that the piles can only contain brush and limbs. If a pile contains other items, like furniture or appliances, the entire pile will remain where it sits and will not be picked up.
And the routes will not be accomplished overnight, either.
“It’s going to take us a couple of months,” said City Manager Karrie Beth Little. “Some of these piles are very large and we appreciate your cooperation.”
Part of that cooperation includes placing the brush and limbs streetside, next to where the resident places their poly cart. The city employees will not venture onto private property to collect piles.
If a resident is in need of other assistance, is elderly or disabled, they should call the city at 623-4669 and answers will be provided.
Plans are to collect brush in the alleys once the streetside routes have been completed. That may be into the new year, depending on how long the streetside collections take and what the weather does. Heavy trucks and equipment in alleys can increase the mud and ruts, damaging the base and creating another issue the city would have to repair later on.
Little also said that once an area has been visited by the brush and limb pickup service, it will not return to that same area until January, when every other month routes begin.
“It’s going to take us that long,” Little said, to complete limb pick up all over town.
Seitter said his thinking at the time he brought up the idea was that the residents have been supportive of the city and the schools and it was appropriate for the city to assist them in return.
For any questions, concerns or information, contact City Hall.