166 tons of material collected during cleanup week in Jamestown
May 19—JAMESTOWN — City workers picked up 166 tons of material during the citywide residential curbside cleanup week May 8-12 and the sanitation department saw an increase in residents hauling items to the baler and landfill as well, according to Shawn O'Neill, sanitation foreman.
O'Neill said the city collected 42.3 tons of construction and demolition debris in the southeast section on May 8, 44.5 tons in the southwest on May 9, 26.4 tons in the northwest on May 10 and 52.8 tons in the northeast on May 11.
"Overall, I think it went pretty well," he said. "We picked up a lot of the stuff that was out."
The city collected 213 tons of material in 2022, he said.
With extended hours only during cleanup week, 40 vehicles dropped off materials after 3:30 p.m. at the city baler and landfill. O'Neill said a total of around 15 vehicles dropped off materials last year after 3:30 p.m.
The baler and landfill were open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday during cleanup week only. Each household was allowed to dispose of up to 500 pounds of garbage or inert materials at no charge during cleanup week only instead of paying a minimum $5 charge.
O'Neill said social media and the free dropoff probably led to more vehicles showing up after 3:30 p.m.
"We seemed to have a lot more phone calls about citywide cleanup on when it's happening and people asking about extended hours," he said.
Many items that were left behind by workers were recyclable materials, cardboard boxes, clothing, electronics, tires, household garbage and metal.
"I get that people put that out hoping that people will come and pick it up, which we did see a lot of people grabbing the metal and stuff like that," he said. He said residents can bring the metal items to the baler for free but they will be charged for tires.
For more information on where to take items that were not picked up, visit
.
O'Neill said citywide cleanup is mostly limited to construction and demolition debris and the maximum residents can place in front of their homes is a full pickup box.
"So like an 8-foot pickup box, full level, that's max," he said. "A lot of the places that we stopped at were way, way over that, double, triple the amount that is supposed to be out. Some of those piles did get left. We did talk to the homeowners about it so that they take care of that themselves."
Construction and demolition debris includes metal, wood, bricks, masonry and cement concrete, according to the North Dakota Administrative Code.
He also said when residents start throwing trim and pieces of wood, they need to at least bend the nails over with a hammer.
"With people grabbing and throwing stuff, it doesn't take much," he said. "Nobody got hurt that I know of or scraped or cut this year, but we did have a few incidents last year where people got scraped or caught by a nail from a board."
During cleanup week, city workers from the sanitation and street departments, water and sewer plants, wastewater treatment facility and inmates or "state residents" help pick up items from the curbside, O'Neill said.
"We cannot thank the state residents enough for coming out and donating their time to helping us with citywide cleanup," he said, referring to the inmates.
