AGENDA #5e

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Follow-up to Citizen Petition regarding Cleanup of Litter in Downtown

 

DATE:             August 25, 2003

 

 

This report is in response to a citizen request related to removal of litter in downtown areas.  Ms. Betty Maultsby appeared before the Mayor and Town Council on May 28, 2003, to discuss appearance issues and presented slides of litter in downtown areas.

 

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

 

The Town’s Public Works Department has primary responsibility for downtown cleanup following special events, including holiday celebrations and other events such as Apple Chill and Festifall. In addition to cleaning up downtown and contiguous areas, Public Works also provides routine on-going maintenance services throughout downtown areas.

 

Special Event Cleanup

 

Crews comprised of personnel from Field Operations, Landscape and Solid Waste Services Divisions are used for cleanup following such special events as Apple Chill, Festifall, Halloween and sports celebrations. Work starts immediately following these events and continues until clean conditions are reestablished throughout downtown areas.

 

The time and effort required to achieve a clean downtown depends upon the size of the crowd, the duration of the event and the nature of the activities during the event.  Relatively routine events, like Festifall are cleaned up in a few hours with little additional work the next day.  Larger, less defined events like Halloween require many hours of cleanup, usually lasting well into the following day or, at times, days.

 

Routine, Ongoing Maintenance

 

Our Solid Waste Services Division provides the following routine, ongoing downtown maintenance activities:

 

• Servicing 81 street trash containers throughout downtown daily, seven days per week
• Scheduled service of commercial refuse containers, including 18 side-loading dumpsters with 4-cubic yard capacity, 7 front-loading dumpsters with 4-cubic yard capacity, 6 front-loading dumpsters with 6-cubic yard capacity and 28 front-loading dumpsters with 8-cubic yard capacity
• Operation of two 30-cubic yard self-contained compactors in the 100 block of E. Franklin Street

 

These services are provided consistently as scheduled throughout the year.  We did miss one scheduled commercial collection in fiscal 2002-2003 due to the severe ice storm that occurred in early December, 2002. Otherwise, service schedules were met.

 

The Landscape Division provides the following regular clean-up activities in downtown areas:

 

• Daily cleanup along Franklin Street sidewalks between the 100 block of E. Franklin Street and the 400 block of W. Franklin Street, using power blower and vacuum cleaner
• Daily cleanup around the Post Office/Courthouse and along Varsity Alley
• Daily cleanup at the Post Office courtyard and along Henderson Street
• Daily cleanup at Rosemary Parking Deck, including plaza area and all five parking levels using Power Boss sweeper
• Daily cleaning at parking lots #2, #3 and #5
• Daily litter removal along Rosemary Street between the 100 block and the 500 block
• Removal of litter and mowing along Franklin Street between Boundary Street and Merritt Mill Road, between the sidewalk and curb, as needed
• Mowing along Rosemary Street between  the sidewalk and the curb as needed, between the Town limits to the west to about Henderson Street to the east
• Mowing at parking lots and the Post Office/Courthouse as needed
• Pruning and weed control throughout downtown as needed
• Annual planting of flowers in planters in front of Bank of America
• Removal of leaf debris throughout downtown as needed
• On-going watering of planters throughout downtown as needed
• Removal of snow and ice as needed

 

The listing of activities indicates one of the highest priority service programs within the Landscape Division, consistent with the importance given downtown cleanliness.

 

The problems displayed in the slide presented by Ms. Maultsby could have occurred in part as a result of the timing of our services. We generally are finished daily cleanup at those areas involved by 6:30 a.m. We believe that the boxes appearing beside the street trash can were placed there after our cleanup work was finished on that day. It is also possible that our staff missed that can on that day. While rare, omissions can occur.

 

The problem at the grease container is part of an ongoing issue with the appropriate use of that site. The users are nearby restaurants, with whom we attempt to work to ensure that only grease is placed in the grease container. Unfortunately, some users have placed and continue to place trash and garbage in and around the container. We will continue to work with businesses of the appropriate actions to take. We have and will continue to clean the area; ultimately, however, we can only be as effective as the users’ behavior dictates.

 

We now utilize virtually the entire Public Works Department, plus some contracted services, during and after the larger special events and provide first priority service to downtown cleanup on a routine, ongoing basis.  In order to provide more service, we would need additional resources, in terms of both staff and equipment.  To provide additional resources would require either new staff and equipment or reallocation of existing resources.  If a reallocation were desired, we could provide information on what other projects and services would not be provided.