Last week was a busy one for the city of Clinton’s Public Works and Utilities Department, with the annual Fall Clean Up week held and leaf collection season officially commencing. The result: 80 tons of bulky items and loose leaves taken off curbsides citywide.

The Fall Clean Up, held Oct. 15-19, resulted in the collection of more than 70 tons of items not normally picked up as part of regular garbage collection. During the week, regular trash collection practices are suspended so city crews can pick up items that include furniture and appliances, as well as a maximum of four tires per household and tree limbs cut to a certain length.

Items that cannot be processed at the Sampson County Landfill or are hazardous to city staff still are not accepted.

According to numbers provided by the Public Works and Utilities Department, the 70 ton of items included 80 mattress and box spring sets; 34 televisions; 46 chairs; 34 couches; 194 tires; and 179 miscellaneous items.

As the city and its Council have made it a main goal to beautify the community through projects and programs, the city has held the biannual cleanup weeks as opportunities for residents to participate in the overall effort to make aesthetic improvements and further prevent blight in their neighborhoods. Officials have praised the two annual five-day periods with helping to achieve that mission, while offering residents a curbside service.

Over the years, city residents have regularly taken advantage of the cleanup campaigns and hundreds of tons of trash not normally collected have been removed from homes, yards and streets through the effort in recent years.

The 70 tons removed from yards and curbs this year trumps the 60 tons of waste collected during last year’s Fall Clean Up event. Public Works officials noted that the weeks were significant not only from a beautification aspect, but a cost-savings one.

“Those items are normally a $40 fee for the city to pick up,” said Stacey Ray, senior administrative specialist for the c’s Public Works and Utilities Department. “I get several calls a week asking to pick these items up. People don’t realize there is a special charge. However, (during) fall and spring clean up they are not charged.”

Along with another successful cleanup, the city also kicked off leaf collection season with a busy week.

Leaf collection by the city of Clinton will extend on a weekly basis for the next five months, through March 15. During that time, city crews will make all efforts to collect loose leaves on the normal day of collection for garbage and trash. If they do not complete a daily route on the normal collection day, crews will resume collections on the same route the following day.

Crews were hard at work last week.

“Leaf season also started Oct. 15 and we have already picked up over 10 tons of leaves,” said Ray.

Public Works and Utilities Department employees will run additional leaf collections during the final week of March, April and May. The city has encouraged residents to place loose leaves at the curb line or within 8 feet of the edge of pavement.

Due to landfill regulations, bagged leaves are no longer acceptable for collection. It also is important to separate tree limbs, shrubs or any other materials from the bulk leaf piles so automated vacuum trucks may perform collections in a timely manner, city officials said.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 121 or via email at sicrime@heartlandpublications.com.