New Castle Mayor Greg York is serious about enforcing existing rules regarding trash collection and has tasked members of the city council with reviewing the existing trash ordinance and possibly making it tougher.
“I made a statement at the end of last year that our first order of business for 2016 is trash pick up including pick up of couches and mattresses,” the mayor said at the most recent meeting of the city council.
York asked each member of the council to review the existing ordinance and to be prepared to discuss what can be done to make enforcing it a priority and to strengthen the measure as needed.
Taking the lead, York suggested requiring all city residents to wait until the evening before or the morning of their normal trash day to set out large items such as mattresses and couches or possibly be fined for not following the rules.
“I’m frustrated, mad and upset that somebody will move out of a place on Main Street, for example, and set their mattresses and everything else out on a Friday so it sets there all weekend and trashes up one of our main thoroughfares, and this happens all over town,” the mayor said.
He also is concerned about the spread of bed bugs and their potential to “hitch a ride” on city workers who handle discarded mattresses and furniture. The mayor is suggesting all such items set out for collection be placed in a large plastic bag provided by the city for a fee. The bag would then have to be completely sealed so any pests living in or on the discarded items wouldn’t have a chance to set up residence elsewhere.
“It’s not fair to our city workers for them to have to muscle up a couch in the back of a truck and then ... possibly take bed bugs home with them,” York said, adding that someone moving from one place to another should be held responsible for properly disposing of the trash they generate.
The city already has plastic bags large enough for a queen-size mattress or a couch. One of the things the mayor wants council members to consider is how much the city should charge for the bags.
“I want it known that when someone has a couch or a mattress or something that has the potential of having bed bugs in it they have to come to the Building Inspector’s office and, for a nominal fee, say 20 bucks, they have to pay for a bag. They then place their item in it, wrap it with duct tape and then set it out on their trash day and we pick it up,” York said.
Council president Mark Koger suggested council members consider establishing a fund to help those city residents who can’t afford to purchase a furniture bag pay such a fee.
“Council might want to consider possibly setting a fund up for indigent people who need help getting rid of some of these things, if we decide to put a fee on,” Koger said. “There are going to be people who say they don’t have $10 or $20.”
No action on this issue was taken, but council members agreed to give it some thought and be prepared to offer suggestions in the near future.
