City crews will be moving through residential neighborhoods for Durango's spring cleanup beginning Monday, picking up bagged or boxed brush, yard waste and tree limbs less than 8 feet in length.
Residents are asked to place materials in the alley for collection, or at curbside in areas where there are no alleys. To help the crews, residents also are asked to place the material at least 2 feet from fences, trees, bushes, gas meters, fire hydrants and power poles and to not block driving lanes or sidewalks.
Public Works Director Jack Rogers said the spring cleanup is for organic yard waste only and not for large trash items such as mattresses, couches, metal fencing and the like. Those items are picked up annually during the city's fall cleanup but may be dropped off year-round at the Bondad landfill or the city transfer station on Tech Center Drive for a fee.
"Many communities that formerly did curbside collection of waste and vegetation have abandoned their programs in these difficult economic times. City residents are paying for this service through their taxes and the effort that benefits only a few is being reviewed by many cities," Rogers wrote in an e-mail.
Residents may set their yard waste out for collection up to one week before their area is scheduled. The schedule for pickup is as follows:
•April 13-17: Areas south of 15th Street, east to Ninth Avenue and residential areas of U.S Highway 160 west within the city limits.
•April 20-24: Areas north of 15th Street to the north city limits east and west of Main Avenue, including the Animas City area.
•April 27-May 1: Areas to the west, including Crestview, Needham, Rockridge and Junction Street areas.
•May 4-8: Riverview, North College, Hillcrest and Skyridge areas.
Crews will try to be efficient to save tax dollars, so they will not return to an area once they have been through once.
Other restrictions and requirements for the spring cleanup include:
•Crews will not pick up materials placed next to gas meters or not put in a location that can be accessed from the public right of way. Not wanting to damage sidewalks or driveways, crews will not pick up materials placed directly on concrete flatwork. Parked cars keep crews from being efficient, so residents taking the time to move cars away from brown waste piles on collection days will help.
•City crews will not accept waste put out by contractors, as the program is intended to help those who do not have access to larger trucks.
•Residents should avoid putting out materials that may be contaminated by nails, wire or other metal objects that you would not want in mulch.
The "brown" waste will be taken to the recycling center for mulching. The mulch is then used in city parks and is available to the public.
Three types of mulch are for sale: the "brown" mulch, made up of collected yard waste; a glass mulch, made from 3/8-inch tumbled recycled glass; and a sand/glass mixture made up of smaller bits of pulverized glass in a sand base. All three types are $10 per cubic yard and available for purchase at Durango City Hall.
For more information, call the Public Works Department at 375-4800.
ted@durangoherald.com
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