Districts have 3 days to clean up; board shortens trash program
Published 10:44 pm Tuesday, February 19, 2019
It’s time for the Great American Cleanup and Lincoln Countians will have one less day to discard a years’ worth of junk.
Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to cut the four-day cleanup trash collection program to just three days for each district. Bins for free dumping will be put out on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in April and the first week in May. There will be no Sunday collections as there has been in the past.
People are encouraged to take advantage of the Great American Cleanup to dispose of items Arrow Disposal Services Inc. won’t always pick up — old mattresses, furniture, appliances, carpet, wood waste and personal tires.
The county places a large, industrial trash bin in each district, rotating locations each Thursday for five weeks.
The annual Great American Cleanup helps combat litter and illegal dumping by allowing residents to get rid of old furniture, broken and out-of-date appliances and other hard-to-dump items for free at designated locations.
Lincoln County Litter Control Coordinator Bob Knight recommended the large metal bins be in place Thursday through Sunday, but agreed to do whatever supervisors requested.
“You can tell them ‘Don’t bring it,’ but they’re still going to come in and it’s going to be a mess,” he said.
District 1 Supervisor and Board President Jerry Wilson agreed that Sunday should remain in the lineup, however, District 5 Supervisor Doug Falvey said they should be able to dump whatever they had in the bins during the week on Thursday and Friday and would have Saturday available if they couldn’t get to it during the week.
“If they can’t get it there in three days, they’re not going to get it there,” he said.
“I’d rather keep it on Sunday. I work every day anyway,” Wilson said.
Falvey made the motion for three days, which passed.
Commercial waste, commercial tires or hazardous materials like paint, oil and other chemicals tires will not be accepted in the bins. The county will host a Hazardous Waste Collection Day March 30 at the District 2 barn from 8 a.m. to noon for those items.
The bins will be in District 1 at Jack Morris Butane at 1033 Hwy. 84 East on April 4-6; in District 2 on Industrial Park Road at the old Keystone ball fields on April 11-13; District 3 at Shell Truck Stop at exit 30 on April 18-20; District 4 behind West Lincoln store on April 25-27; and District 5 at Case Grocery in Loyd Star on May 2-4.
Next year, Knight would like to see it held earlier in the year during tax season. He said it seems individuals who get tax refunds tend to toss out old items they replace with new purchases. Their discards end up in ditches.
“We find TVs and couches and stuff all the time. Even during the cleanup they’re throwing it out on the side of the road when all they’ve got to do is come to the cleanup,” Knight said.