Brookhaven Sanitation Department officials have announced trashpick up schedule changes that they hope will reduce some overheadin the city’s solid waste operation.

James “Peanut” Arnold, department superintendent, said the cityhas been divided into four “wards,” and one ward will be picked upeach day Monday through Thursday. Arnold said all trash will becollected in one ward before crews move on to the next area.

“That’s the way we’re going to run it,” Arnold said. “If we’veleft some, we’ll go back and pick it up, but we’re not going to goback over the same streets.”

For trash pick-up, “ward” line boundaries will be the railroadfor the east and west and Brookway Boulevard/Monticello Street fornorth and south. Trash pick-up “ward” lines do not correspond tothose of the city’s six existing wards.

The southwest quadrant, “Ward 4”, will be picked up on Mondays;the southeast quadrant, “Ward 3,” on Tuesdays; the northeastquadrant, “Ward 1,” on Wednesdays; and the northwest quadrant,”Ward 2,” on Thursdays.

Arnold emphasized the difference between trash and garbage.Garbage routes are not changing under the new city plan.

“The residential garbage routes are going to be done the sameway we’ve been running them,” Arnold said.

Trash was described as yard waste such as trees, limbs, flowersand garbage rubbish. It is material that can be transported to thecity’s rubbish field for disposal.

Garbage was described as paper, bottles, glass, containers andother househould waste. It must be taken to the transfer stationand then to an approved landfill for disposal.

Arnold said citizens should not mix trash and garbage. Mixeditems are considered garbage and the city is charged $36 a ton atthe transfer station.

“That’s causing us to go under with our garbage,” Arnold said,referring to the city’s solid waste operation that is losingmoney.

Arnold said trash piles should be neat so that they can behandled easily by two-man disposal crews. He said citizens may becharged extra if piles are too big and cannot be picked up in atimely manner.

In other garbage action, sanitation officials are rethinking acommercial garbage pick up schedule change from six days a week tothree days a week. The schedule called for commercial pick upMondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

However, Arnold expressed concerns about garbage build up on thein-between days and the additional time it would take on collectiondays to pick up the excess. He mentioned the possibility ofcombining some aspects of commercial and residential garbage pickin an effort to reduce overlap.

Arnold was expected to discuss the commercial schedule with themayor and board of aldermen Monday to determine lay offs in thesanitation department. City officials are looking at laying offfive employees in the 25-man department in an effort towardbalancing next year’s solid waste budget.