The city ordinance governing trash pickup was reviewed Tuesday afternoon by the Blytheville Health and Sanitation Committee, and Director of Public Works Marvin Crawford had some suggestions as to how to streamline the process.
According to the ordinance, city sanitation workers are directed to pick up both household garbage (waste that goes into bags and into the collection containers), larger trash (bulky items such as furniture or appliances), and yard waste (limbs, leaves, loose debris).
Crawford told the committee the volume of these bulky trash items is so high that picking them up is becoming cost- and time-prohibitive, creating more work than his staff can do in a timely manner and possibly damaging city equipment. If routes are delayed because time and manpower is absorbed in picking up an excess of old mattresses, furniture and other large items left on the curb, all homes on the route may not be able to get regular pickup. For these reasons and more, he said it might be worth the Council's consideration in the future to stop or limit the pickup of large "trash" items.
"We're down on equipment now," he said. "And even with the new equipment we're getting, it will be hard to keep up with it all. For a lot of years, people in this city have been privileged to a lot of services that others haven't, and people are spoiled -- it's crucial that we have a very active code enforcement. We need the personnel to get that done. If I see a whole tree that's been cut down on the street, or the waste from a contractor's job, we're not supposed to pick that stuff up, and I can't if it might damage my equipment. I realize a change like this could inconvenience citizens and I don't want to do that, but we really need to dissect this issue more carefully."
Council members agreed to discuss the issue further, and moved on to the review of the city's contract with Knight's Disposal for the removal of the city's commercial garbage.
Missy Langston raised a question about a clause concerning the city's possible need for open-topped, or "roll-off" containers. The contract, as it currently reads, states that Knight's will not provide them unless the city requests it, and then at a fee of $95 per load. City Attorney Mike Bearden agreed to ensure that this meant that the containers would be made available in a timely manner, should they be requested.
The exclusivity clause in the contract was also discussed. Bearden said his understanding of it was that if any large company which generated a large amount of commercial garbage were to attempt to enter into contract with a removal service other than Knight's, the city would possibly be obliged to file suit in attempt to stop it. This issue was to be looked into further.
The contract was not ready to be approved until these issues are clarified between Bearden and Dan Ritchey, attorney for Knight's.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com