The New Castle City Council continues to discuss what can be done to reduce the number of people who set large trash items out for collection days in advance of their scheduled pick-up.
City leaders met Monday and council president Mark Koger suggested that Street Commissioner Kimble Baker and Building Inspector Kenny Melton share their thoughts on what can be done to improve New Castle’s curb appeal. The street department is responsible for trash collection and Melton is frequently tasked with code enforcement responsibilities.
Melton suggested a large dumpster be made available once a month at the street department office on Midway Drive where people could bring mattresses, couches and other large trash items and drop them off free of charge.
He said this would reduce the amount of junk left curbside throughout the week and would also save the street department a lot of manhours and wear and tear on street department vehicles.
“That would solve a lot of problems,” Koger said.
Council member Jeff Hancock suggested city residents be advised of trash ordinance requirements via a notice sent with their water bills.
“It needs to be something real big that stands out,” he suggested.
Council member Aaron Dicken liked the idea of a local drop-off site, stating it would make disposal of large items easier on city residents than requiring them to haul large items to the nearby Hayes landfill.
Hancock shared his concern that making the drop-off site available once a month might not be often enough, suggesting instead that it be available every other week.
Council member Mary Pierce-Abbott was concerned a drop-off site might be abused and wondered how use of the site could be policed to prevent someone from showing up every month with a truck load of materials.
Council member Jerry Walden said if someone has already placed large items in a truck and is prepared to haul them to the street department, they should take them to the landfill instead, which would remove the city from the process.
Council member Lynn Perdue said a good first step would be to make sure all city residents know when their trash collection day is each week and when it’s OK to set out larger items.
Much additional discussion on this subject took place, with Mayor Greg York summarizing his thoughts.
“We want to improve curb appeal,” York said. “We want our neighborhoods to look cleaner, we want them to have better curb appeal. ... When people call (the street department) and say they have trash out in front of such and such, we need (Baker’s) clerk to tell them we don’t accept that anymore, here’s where to take it or here’s what to do with it.”
No action was taken regarding the trash ordinance. City attorney Dave Copenhaver is preparing a list of ideas designed to help alleviate the ongoing problem for the council’s consideration and/or strengthen the ordinance’s enforcement provisions.
It was agreed that at the very least local citizens need to be better informed about what can be set curbside for collection and when those items should be set out. Expect to hear more on this issue in the future.
In other news, the council voted to transfer up to $1 million from its Storm Water Fund to its General Fund until the city receives its next tax draw to address potential cash-flow problems.
“We hope not to have to use it, but we definitely need a safety net the closer we get to our tax draw,” city clerk-treasurer Christy York said.
