Charles City garage sale weekend will coordinate with citywide cleanup this year

Crews from Charles City and Jendro Sanitation collect mattresses and box springs on the first day of the citywide cleanup in this photo from April 2018. Press file photo by Bob Steenson

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

First, try to sell it. Then, if that fails, you can dump it.

The annual Charles City citywide spring cleanup will be held at the end of this month,  giving residents an opportunity to get rid of a wide variety of items they no longer want or need.

But this year the city is coordinating with the annual Charles City Press spring garage sale, to give people a chance to make a few dollars off some of their no-longer-needed items before discarding them, and to keep those items that can find new homes out of the landfill.

The spring garage sale weekend will begin Thursday, April 25, and run through Saturday, April 27. Some people hold garage sales on all or just a few of the days, and ads including information on garage sale locations, items offered, times and dates and a map will be included in the Press and the Northeast Iowa Shopper before that weekend.

The citywide spring cleanup will be Monday, April 29, through Thursday, May 2.

The cleanup guidelines will be similar to last year.

Piles of material 2 feet by 8 feet and up to 3 feet tall will be picked up, along with one bulky item such as furniture or mattresses or box springs.

Non-eligible items include major appliances, tires, TVs and computer equipment, yard waste and hazardous waste materials. Again this year, corrugated cardboard will not be accepted.

Pick-up will begin 5 a.m. Monday, and no items are to be placed out before Saturday, April 27.

Crews from the city and Jendro Sanitation will make an initial pass for mattresses and box springs on Monday, then collect the rest of the piles Monday through Thursday.

Items in excess of the allowed amount may be subject to an additional charge, and the city and Jendro retains the right to refuse pickup of items, according to a press release from the city.

Items that are not picked up must be disposed of by the resident within three days.

Complete spring cleanup rules, including options for disposing of or recycling items that won’t be picked up, are available on the Charles City website, www.cityofcharlescity.org. For more information, call City Hall at 641-257-6300.