Charles City exploring other options for residential spring cleanup

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Charles City residents will have several options for the city spring cleanup this year, but free curbside pickup will no longer be one of them.

Free disposal of large items will still be available, but residents will have to haul them to dumpsters set up at a Shaw Avenue dump site to get rid of them. Community service clubs and high school students have offered to help those who aren’t able to deliver their items to the drop-off themselves.

The free drop-off at the Shaw Avenue dump – near the city leaf and brush drop-off area, out toward the water resource reclamation facility (WRRF) off of Clark Street – will be available from Thursday, April 28, through Saturday, May 7, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

The dates will coincide with the annual spring citywide garage sale, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, to Saturday, April 30.

City Administrator Steve Diers said it has become more and more costly to offer the free curbside pickup, and the city started talking last year about other options.

“Additionally, Jendro/LJP just can’t provide the personnel to do it,” he said. Each year the city was doing more and more of the work, to the point last year that the city was providing drivers for Jendro’s trucks.

Diers said the city has a good location on Shaw Avenue to have people bring their items, so the city is seeing how it goes this year.

Several dozen high school students and members of Boy Scout Troop 1078 have offered to help people who aren’t able to take materials to the dump site themselves, and the Charles City Rotary Club and Lions Club have offered to provide help and provide some pickup trucks as well, Diers said.

“We knew that would be one of the toughest things about the change,” he said, referring to people who don’t have the ability or the means to transport their items.

Anyone who needs some help is asked to call City Hall at 641-257-6300. Diers said a spreadsheet is being kept with names and addresses and types of materials needed to be hauled.

“We’ll get back to them to schedule a time,” he said.

Metal items will go into separate dumpsters at the drop-off site, and whatever fees are raised from recycling the scrap metal will be given back to the groups for their help, Diers added.

Each residence will be allowed one load to be dropped off at the dump site.

“We’re figuring most people will probably use a pickup, so we’re considering that one load,” Diers said.

The dump site is for Charles City residents only, and proof of residency will be required, such as a utility bill stub or something similar with an address on it. People will be stationed at the site during open drop-off hours each day, Diers said.

Bulky item curbside pickup will still be available, but a fee will be charged and the pickups must be scheduled in advance by calling LJP/Jendro at 641-228-3525 no later than May 2 to schedule a time and arrange payment before the pickup.

Examples of fees listed by the city for curbside pickup include $15 per yard of carpeting; $20 for a grill (but no propane tanks); $25 for large furniture such as mattress, box spring, recliner, table, dresser or regular sofa; $40 for a sleeper sofa.

Residents may also order temporary dumpster rental at their home on a first-come, first-served basis for no more than 7 days, for $110 for 2 cubic yards; $135 for 4 cubic yards, $400 for 12 cubic yards and $600 for 30 cubic yards. Reservations for dumpsters can also be made by calling LJP/Jendro.

Examples of items that cannot be dropped off at the drop site include major household appliances; batteries; shingles, tar paper or other construction debris; landscape waste; hazardous waste; and medical waste.

For the first time, this year the cleanup will accept tires — up to four passenger-car-size tires per household.

A more complete list of what is and isn’t allowed is available on the Charles City website, www.cityofcharlescity.org, under the “News & Announcements” tab near the middle of the home page. The information also contains options on getting rid of or recycling items that won’t be accepted at the drop-off site.