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Jan. 31—Keeping Reading clean is an important component in making the city an appealing place in which to live, work and play, Mayor Eddie Moran said.

It's one of the reasons, the mayor said, he has pushed the Clean City initiative since taking office in 2020.

Moran gave an update on the program's accomplishments last week during his state of the city address.

The annual address, his fourth, took place at Reading Area Community College's Miller Center for the Arts, 4 N. Second St.

"There's a lot of misconceptions about what Clean City is," Steve Harrity, coordinator of the program, said Monday.

Residents pay a monthly fee of $5 for the service, which is included along with trash and recycling fees on sewer and water bills from the Reading Area Water Authority.

The Clean City fee covers what is known as value-added services, Harrity said, noting these include yard waste, tires and electronics collection.

"We do some things that you don't get in a lot of other municipalities," he said. "One of them is yard waste collection. We also pick up electronics."

Such items are not included in weekly residential trash pickup under the city's contract with Republic Services, Harrity said. However, he noted, the contract does allow residents to put out one appliance a week, not including refrigerators, which require special handling.

Collection of electronics, such old computers, cellphones and TVs, is covered under the Clean City Program. The items can be placed outside for pickup on any scheduled trash day.

Tire pickup can be arranged by calling the city's helpline or using the city's iRequest app, available for Apple and Android cellphones.

"You get a lot for that $5," he said, noting the fee also helps fund the removal of illegally dumped items, roadkill and other dead animals.

Last year, the program paid for 931 cleanup and illegal-dumping remediation projects lead by Ronald Epps, solid waste foreman, and a crew from the public works department.

City staff collected more than 11,000 bags of litter and other debris and 794 bulk items, the mayor reported in his annual address.

In addition to funding staff-run cleanups, Harrity said, the monthly $5 fee helps pay for the citywide Adopt a Block program, run by Ryan Bradley, Clean City coordinator.

The program is aimed at empowering and engaging residents in an effort to keep Reading's streets, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds cleaner and safer.

As part of the program, individuals and groups volunteer to serve as block captains to oversee and coordinate ongoing cleanups in their immediate neighborhoods.

More than 110 residents, businesses, and community and other groups have volunteered since the program began in August.

"My hope is that this program momentum continues," Moran said, "and more residents and community stakeholders join us taking care of our community. We should take pride in where we live."

While the monthly fees of $5 each for Clean City services and recycling will not go up in 2023, city residents will notice an increase on their January bills from Reading Area Water Authority.

This is due a rise in the cost of residential trash collection.

City Council voted in October to raise the solid waste collection fee by 3%, effective for 2023.

The total annual cost for services will go up to $340 from $330.

The rise reflects a 3% annual increase for trash removal built into the city's five-year contract with Republic Services and is passed on to the residents, Harrity said.

City Council authorized mandatory citywide waste collection, effective 2020, for properties with one to six residential units.

The charge for trash collection is rolled together with the Clean City charge, while the recycling fee is listed as a separate line item on the monthly bills from RAWA.

Residents have been paying solid-waste removal fees along with their water and sewer bills since 2013.

RAWA will not cut off customers' water if they cannot afford the included charges for solid waste removal.

Combining the charges on a single invoice saves the city the additional mailing costs that would incur if solid waste removal fees were billed separately, Harrity said.

Citywide trash collection is a critical component of the Clean City initiative, Moran said, noting 26,422 residential units, or 94% of eligible households, were enrolled in the program by the end of 2022. The mayor said he expects that figure to be closer to 100% by year's end as the program continues to expand.