Published: April 15, 2007 01:13 am            

Huntsville Solid Waste Division updates procedures

The addition of a heavy duty trash truck is allowing the city of Huntsville’s Solid Waste Division to change its method of collecting yard waste and help keep the city free of debris.

An amended yard waste collection ordinance goes into effect May 1, revising the way yard waste trimmings are collected and implementing heavy trash and large waste collection procedures.

The city was awarded a $175,828 grant from the Houston-Galveston Area Council in September 2006 to purchase the new heavy duty trash truck with dual loader and grapple.

Starting May, 1, the collection of yard waste trimmings will no longer require a call-in to the Solid Waste Division.

Esther Herklotz, assistant superintendent for Solid Waste Services, said yard waste trimmings will be collected on the first, third and fifth Wednesday of each month.

Herklotz said the collection of heavy trash and large yard waste for residential customers will require a call-in to 294-5796.

“Residential customers must leave their complete name, address, phone number and type of heavy item to be placed on a pickup list,” she said.

Heavy trash and large yard waste will be collected on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month.

Bill Daugette, Public Utilities director, said the new truck — equipped with a 40-cubic yard container — will be used to help with the city’s demolition program where at least a dozen dilapidated homes are scheduled to be demolished.

“The truck has already paid dividends for us this year,” Daugette told the City Council at its April 3 meeting when the waste collection ordinance was amended.

He said the demolition equipment previously consisted of a bulldozer tractor and three to four dump trucks to haul away the debris in several loads.

With the one large truck, Daugette said the demolition of a house and hauling of the debris can be accomplished with one person in basically one day.

Daugette expects to add a second person for safety reasons.

“This is a savings of three or four people for a full day, plus the fact that it was free to us.”

Daugette said the request was made to amend the ordinance to take advantage of the truck as a heavy waste vehicle and provide a service to the community and residents.

Cindy Blaylock, Solid Waste Services superintendent, said the grant was received “to recycle the material that we are picking up.”

“The appliances, anything that is scrap metal, will be recycled,” she said. “Materials from buildings that are being demolished will be recycled.

“It’s not just being out there picking up heavy debris. We are going to try to recycle all of the material we are picking up.”

Blaylock said materials taken to the city’s waste disposal site off state Highway 75 will be sorted for recycled.

“What we can’t recycle will be taken to the landfill in Polk County,” she said. “With this trucking having a 40-cubic yard dump bed, we can either dump it on the floor of the transfer facility or set it in piles.”

The Solid Waste Division has collected yard waste on a call-in basis since Oct. 1, 2005.

Through Sept. 30, 2006, the department received 6,898 call-ins for yard waste service.

The four trucks used in the operation drove 5,555 miles or an average of 106.8 miles per Wednesday.

During the same period, they collected 415.86 tons, or an average of 8 tons per Wednesday.

Blaylock said the call-in program has been successful in some ways.

“We have eliminated the mileage where we were going all over town when there was maybe no more than one ton of yard waste pickup and we were sending out four trucks,” she said.

She said the call-in program did eliminate having four trucks on the road and allowed for personnel to be used elsewhere.

“It was successful,” Blaylock said of the call-in program, “but we feel like it was inconvenient for the customer.”

Blaylock said the department will reduce the number of yard waste collections from 52 weeks to 28 weeks.

“The other 24 are for the heavy debris,” she said. “This is the first time the heavy debris service will be offered in Huntsville.”



Guidelines for heavy trash/ large yard waste collection

• The city of Huntsville Residential Solid Waste Division will collect heavy trash / large yard waste on the second and fourth Wednesdays by call-in request only — (936) 294-5796. Provide your full name, address, telephone number and type of item(s) to be collected.

• Request for pickup shall be placed a minimum of one week prior to the scheduled collection day. No heavy trash shall be placed at the road edge earlier than five days prior to the scheduled second and fourth Wednesday of each month.

• Heavy trash is large yard waste, furniture, appliance/white goods, building construction material and miscellaneous heavy debris from residential.

• Large yard waste includes limbs and branches which must be prepared for pickup by using the following guidelines: (1) Limbs and branches up to a maximum of 8 feet in length which should be placed curbside and cut ends must face the road; (2) Tree limbs larger than 12 inches in diameter must be cut to a maximum 3 feet in length; (3) Large brush must be stacked, unbound and in one row along the road edge no higher than 4 feet.

• These items shall be placed in separate piles along the road edge: (1) Appliances/white goods such as refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washers, dryers, hot water heaters and miscellaneous metal appliances (door removed); (2) Building construction material such as lumber, doors, windows, etc.; (3) Miscellaneous heavy debris including large boxes, moving debris, and tires removed from the rims.

The city will not collect tractor tires.

• Items shall be placed along the road edge approximately 5 feet from garbage cans and other obstacles such as mail boxes, fences and parked cars. Avoid placing large brush and bulky items under low-hanging tree limbs or power lines.

• The following items are not collected as part of the Heavy Trash/Large Yard Waste Collection program: (1) Loose or bagged household garbage; (2) tractor tires; (3) commercial sites or commercial use; (4) construction building sites; (5) property vegetation clearance.

• For more information, phone the Solid Waste Services Division at 936-294-5723.

Pickup Schedules

Yard waste trimmings are collected the first, third and fifth Wednesday pick-up and no call-in is required.

Collection dates are:

• May 2, 16, 30; June 6, 20; July 4, 18; Aug. 1, 15, 29; Sept. 5, 19; Oct. 3, 17, 31; Nov. 7, 21; Dec. 5, 19.

Heavy trash /large yard waste will have second and fourth Wednesday pick-up with call-in required by phoning (936) 294-5796.

Collection dates are:

• May 9, 23; June 13, 27; July 11, 25; Aug. 8, 22; Sept. 12, 26; Oct. 10, 24; Nov. 14, 28; Dec. 12, 26.

        

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