April 25, 2008 08:30 am
—
By MICHELLE MILLERL
Staff Writer
HARTWICK — Jessica Breiten is one of about a dozen
residents within the Town of Hartwick who has recently
joined forces with the town supervisor and town board members
to develop a voluntary program to clean up the town.
The community is developing a three-part plan that includes
a junk vehicle removal program, a roadside clean-up
event, and the placement of permanent recycling and scrap
metal bins. There will be many chances for participants to
win cash and other prizes.
``There has been a lot of interest in this project, with a lot
of volunteers willing to put in the time to make it work, so we
are hoping it goes well,’’ said Breiten. ``A lot of the details
will progress as people start to register for the clean-up, but
we are hoping the idea takes off and it will become a continuing
thing annually.’’
Breiten said the town has held an annual roadside cleanup
event in the past, and several citizens wanted to take it
one step further by focusing on ridding the town of unsightly
and unused motor vehicles and other large scrap metal
items.
The Hartwick Clean Sweep event will take place primarily
on Saturday, May 17, said Breiten. However, she said it
all depends on how many people show interest in using the
services being offered.
``We want to be able to pack it all into one day and make
it a day event if we can,’’ said Breiten. ``We will just have to
see what happens.’’
Breiten said there will be recycling and scrap metal collection
bins available on a year-round basis. She said they
will be placed behind the Town Hall located within the Hamlet
of Hartwick.
Residents will be able to use the bins to drop off paper,
plastic and mixed container recyclables that are normally
accepted by Otsego County. A separate scrap metal bin will
be available for scrap metal items that can be manually lifted.
Acceptable scrap metal items may include, but are not
limited to, old lawn mowers, metal lawn chairs, BBQ grills,
pots and pans, barbed wire fencing, copper and aluminum
items, old snowmobiles (with fiberglass and track removed),
bicycles, wheels, rims, and car parts. Refrigerators, freezers
and air conditioners are acceptable only with proper certification
stickers showing that Freon gas has been professionally
removed.
Town Supervisor Pat Ryan said unfortunately certain
items cannot be accepted in the scrap metal bins for various
reasons. A few examples of unacceptable items include home
or business safes because they often contain asbestos, home
electronics since there is a separate county program for these
items, and hazardous materials such as paint cans, propane
tanks and automotive batteries. While metal wheel rims and
hubs are accepted, rubber tires will not be accepted.
The grand opening of these bins will be during the Hartwick
Clean Sweep event at 9 a.m. at the Town Hall.
After the grand opening, roadside sweepers will be
grouped and assigned roads to clean to make sure there are
not too many people on one road.
The primary emphasis for the town’s clean-up effort is
being placed on the removal of junk motor vehicles and other
large scrap metal items.
``Even before I took office in January, one of the most common
complaints I’ve heard relates to the apparent over abundance
of junk cars, old appliances, and junk that is visible to
the public, ‘’said Ryan. ``I’ve also had a number of complaints
about some residents storing trash in pick-up beds or abandoned
cars. This is a public safety and health issue that we
just can’t ignore.’’
According to Ryan, Hartwick has a law in place that regulates
junk, but rather than issuing citations, the town is first
trying a voluntary clean-up effort.
Free assistance is being offered to any resident of the
town interested in disposing of junk vehicles or other large
scrap metal items such as abandoned farm machinery, snowmobiles
(with fiberglass and track removed), and car parts.
Interested residents are encouraged to call Martha, the
town’s junk removal coordinator, at 293-6654 to indicate
their interest in participating, to obtain further details, or to
schedule a junk pick-up.
The town’s program involves area towing services, and
the town will coordinate pick-up on behalf of any resident of
Hartwick.
Breiten said this is an especially good opportunity for
those who are older and don’t want to deal with coordinating
with a dealer to take away their junk.
She said there is no cost to the resident for this service,
and everyone registering will have a chance to win a cash
prize or gift certificate from sponsors of the event.
``The amounts and places have yet to be determined,’’ said
Breiten, ``but hopefully the prizes will give people an incentive
to clean up.’’
Breiten said if residents want to request part of the money
for their scrap metal, the town is leaving the wheeling
and dealing between the tow truck drivers and the residents.
However, if the residents just want to get rid of the junk, she
hopes the tow truck drivers will give some of the money
earned back to the town to go towards the cost of putting on
the event.
In past years, local businesses and organizations have
sponsored roadside clean-up teams to collect litter, so any
group, individual or business interested in participating in
the roadside clean-up event this year should call Juli, the
town’s roadside clean-up event coordinator, for details at
293-7324.
Free trash bags will be provided by the town, and once
roadside litter is collected, full bags can be left along the
road and will be collected by the members of the Hartwick
Fire Department. Individuals or groups can also bring roadside
litter to a dumpster located at the Town Hall.
The group or individual collecting the most bags of litter
will win a cash prize. The town cautions residents not to dispose
of household trash during this event since only roadside
litter will be accepted.
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