Answer Man: Plastic bags required for trash pickup? Pit of Despair plans?

Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:

Question: If Asheville is thinking about a ban on some plastic bags, because they are harmful to the environment, why do some places, like the Town of Black Mountain, require their use in garbage collection? The town’s collection service recently refused to empty my tote, leaving a note telling me I had to bag the contents. I have never used all bags before, so this refusal signaled a recent policy change. If plastic bags are bad for the environment, then this policy makes no sense. Am I missing something?

My answer: Well clearly, you're missing some plastic bags. But I get your point.

Real answer: Tausha Millwood, senior administrative assistant for Public Works and the sanitation supervisor in Black Mountain, took this one on. She confirmed the town does require all trash to be bagged in kitchen-style bags for collection.

"This has been the policy since we began our in-house sanitation collection in October 2020," Millwood said. "We do not require folks to use a certain style of can. We have no town-issued cans and everyone is responsible for their own containers."

In part, the requirement for bags comes down to the actual physical labor involved in trash collection.

More:Answer Man: Pritchard Park bear roamed 275 miles, to Georgia?

"Most residents do not have cans with the toter bars, so if the can is full of loose trash, that means the slinger (there is typically only one slinger on each truck) has to manually lift the can to empty it," Millwood said, explaining that the town's trucks do not have automated arms on them for raising and dumping all trash cans.

Instead, the trucks have two "toter lifts" on back that can pick some cans up for dumping. But if the trash is loose, sanitation workers may still have to remove it.

"After several hundred of those daily, it starts to wear on them," Millwood said. "Also, when emptying loose trash from cans, this increases the chances of loose trash falling/blowing from the can onto the ground."

Loose trash in a can that gets knocked over will scatter all over. But if the trash is bagged, it at least stays in one place, contained. Loose garbage can also pose a safety risk for workers and others.

Millwood noted the city of Asheville has the same policy regarding preparation of trash and using bags. Indeed, the city's sanitation page online states: "Only bagged household trash can be placed in the roll cart containers."

As we noted in a Sept. 13 news story, an Asheville City Council committee, amid calls to ban all single-use plastic bags in the city, "voted on a gentler approach — one that would potentially eliminate the use of plastic bags for curbside litter collection, and begin to explore an outright ban of plastic shopping bags at point of sale."

The Governance Committee voted 3-0 to recommend "a phased approach to council to update the existing ordinance for leaf litter collection and begin developing a new ordinance to target single-use plastic bags," we reported.

Regarding trash bags being required, I can tell you the Town of Fletcher in northern Henderson County also requires trash be in bags, and they get a little testy when you don't do this, understandably.

Question: When will the plans for the "Pit of Despair" on Haywood Street begin to be implemented? The plan was for a "park" and more to begin in 2022. What’s happening with this project?

My answer: Look, it's only been 20 years the city has been in charge of this site. Are you expecting a miracle? Meanwhile, I can tell you they've ignored my suggestion for a good old-fashioned mountain swimmin' hole and fishin' pond there.

Real answer: The notorious pit sits across the street from the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville and the Basilica of St. Lawrence, a prime downtown location for, well, just about anything. Going way back to the turn of the century, the city flirted with the idea of a hotel/convention center on the site, but that fell by the wayside.

In October of 2020, Asheville City Council approved a plan for a park "meant to transform a troubled piece of downtown land, though how the $13.2 million project would get built is unclear," as we reported then. The 7-0 vote seemed promising at the time, but still, nothing has happened.

Former City Council Member Julie Mayfield, now a state senator, offered a pretty good summation after the 2020 vote.

"It's no secret how challenging this site has been in our city over its history," Mayfield said. "And people literally have won and lost elections over it. So to be at this place feels really good."

More:Cracks appear in council unity over 'Pit of Despair'

But she added, the site would be "very special when we figure out how to fund it and build it."

That still appears to be the issue.

"The city of Asheville is developing new processes for assessing city-owned land," city of Asheville spokeswoman Kim Miller said via email this week. "The creation of those revised processes is expected to be a top priority for the next year."

So, what's the overall upshot?

"We have no specific updates on the timing of or any funding associated with the 68 Haywood St. currently," Miller said.

I'm thinking in another 20 years, the city may have this knocked out.

This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 828-232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Do you need plastic bags for trash pickup? Plan for Pit of Despair?