VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – An educational workshop and listening session was held at the Fayetteville Senior Center on Monday, Nov. 13 to inform residents about the rollout of the village’s new trash and recycling program.
The general information meeting saw Fayetteville Department of Public Works Superintendent Bobby Hall, Assistant Superintendent Tyler Massett, Mayor Mark Olson and Deputy Mayor Mike Small field questions and respond to concerns from villagers in attendance regarding the changes being formulated for the pickup program.
The village will be transitioning to a new truck with recording capabilities, a sensored hopper and an extending arm loader designed to pick up the new garbage and recycling carts the village is ordering.
The new pickup system will only necessitate one person for the operation of the truck four days a week as opposed to the five people who currently work three days a week to collect trash from house to house.
As a result, Olson said those other four DPW employees will be able to put more time to grass mowing in the parks, care of sidewalks and work on drainage projects. Additionally, he said the automated truck and the new pickup structure will save money and lessen the chance of injury since only one employee will be on the road and they won’t have to manually pick up the carts left at the curbside.
“At the end of the day, whatever we picked up before we’re going to pick up when we start this new program, but we’re going to be better at what we pick up,” Olson said.
Local condominiums will receive 64-gallon carts for easier garage storage, while other households and businesses will receive 96-gallon trash and recycling carts. After a three-month moratorium during which they can determine what works best based on how much they throw out, residents and business owners will be able to upgrade to the larger size or downgrade from 96 gallons to 64.
Every property owner will also be eligible to purchase up to two additional carts on top of the ones they’re entitled to—one extra for trash and one extra for recycling. They would pay a yearly tipping fee for the dumping of the extra containers.
The trash pickup will be on Tuesdays for half the village and Wednesdays for the other half, and the recycling pickup will be on Thursdays and Fridays.
Presently, trash and recycling is scooped up on the same days, but the new truck will handle trash and recycling separately because the vehicle needs to be cleaned in between.
Property owners must schedule ahead for special pickups involving construction debris and hardfill or bulk items such as carpets, sofas, recliners, desks, dressers and metal materials. There’s a list of 2024 dates to schedule by on the fayettevilleny.gov DPW page.
There will be fees payable online for anyone wishing to dispose of mattresses, tires or 10 or more bulk items at once. Each mattress will be $15 to clear away, while each tire will be $5 and a cleanout of bulk items will be $100 a month.
As far as instructions for residents, the DPW advises keeping items like 2X4s out of the carts because they would get clogged and shut down the truck.
Also, cardboard boxes can not be put on the side—they need to be cut up and put in the carts once the new program begins. Olson said the village will be flexible and helpful to anyone disposing of cardboard so that they’re not hoarding too much.
It was also stated at the workshop session that loose, thin and lightweight items like shredded paper should be placed in a secured white or clear bag so the wind doesn’t catch any of it and blow it into the street when it’s being lifted by the arm packer.
All trash must also fit completely inside the carts with the lids shut.
“This is going to be a work in progress not only for the residents, but also for the village,” Small said. “We’re gonna try to make this all work out to the best of everyone’s advantage.”
The village’s current garbage truck will be kept as a backup, and there’s set to be a program for assisting people who have physical trouble bringing their carts to the road.
The village will begin the new program in the new year once the carts are obtained and the new truck is in working order.
The Village of Fayetteville and its DPW intend to hold more public meetings about the restructured trash and recycling program in the weeks ahead.