Thursday, April 25, 2024
Starting Monday (Jan. 23), Gatesville residents will receive their new 96-gallon trash carts as well as 96-gallon recycling carts in anticipation of changes in trash collection service that will begin the week of Feb. 6.
Gatesville is the last community in Central Texas to move to an automated collection service. City residents will have once per week trash pick-up (either Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday depending on their zone) and every other week collection of recyclable materials (primarily plastics, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes and paper), once per month bulk pickup (large items that will not fit in a standard trash container) and at-your-door household hazardous waste collection. The hazardous material collection must be scheduled by contacting Waste Management.
Although a significant amount of trash can fit in the 96-gallon carts - especially when recycled items are separated - customers who need additional carts can contact Centex Waste Management at 1-800-800-5804 to have them delivered. Additional carts will cost $5 each per month.
"Each of you will have a slightly different trash schedule in the future," said City Manager Bill Parry. Some of the major dividing lines for the four different trash collection zones for Gatesville are Lutterloh Street and Lovers Lane.
Trash that is outside of the carts in other containers or in bags will not be collected.
"All of your trash has to fit in the cart and the lid has to close," Parry said. He added that people will be required to put their trash bags inside the carts, and loose materials should not be placed in the trash carts.
Mayor Pro Tem Meredith Rainer asked about recycling and was told that those items should be placed directly in the designated recycling cart rather than in bags.
"The recycling specifically does not go in a bag," Parry said. "Those items remain loose in the recycling cart."
Getting community members used to once per month curbside bulk pickup will be an important part of the trash collection service changes, Parry said.
"The key thing becomes bulk pickup once per month in each zone," he said. "The city utility yard is also still open on the second and fourth Saturdays for people to bring stuff. It may be a challenge to keep people from putting bulk on the curb (when their collection is not scheduled) so it doesn't sit there for a month."
A detailed list of which items can be placed in recycling containers, which can be collected via bulk and household hazardous waste pickup (tires will not be collected) and other information will be provided in brochures that will be attached to the new trash carts.
Councilwoman Barbara Burrow said she plans to have a neighborhood town hall meeting, which in part is intended to encourage people to recycle.
"This needs to be a success for the city and for the people, too," she said.
Parry said the trash carts are intended to serve a specific address.
"What's really key and critical - when you live in Gatesville and move out of the house, you leave the trash cart," he said. "Each can has a serial number, so people can write it down and track it if something happens to it."
Asked by a resident attending the meeting if the cost for collection will go up, Parry said, "You'll pay more, but you'll get the recycling and household hazardous waste as added services."
During a December Council meeting, a representative from Waste Management noted that a cost increase would have been scheduled anyway. He added that the old system of collecting trash is being phased out, partly because less manpower is needed by using the automated system and partly because the new system is cleaner and more efficient.
Councilwoman Burrow said she was excited by the at-your-door collection of hazardous materials.
"I'm excited about trash collection in a can," Parry said, adding that when people put trash in loose bags on their curb, the bags are often torn by animals and trash is scattered on the street and in yards.
"I believe truthfully what Waste Management tells us, you'll see an immediate improvement in service and in the city's appearance," Parry said. "I think this will be a good thing."
Other communities in Central Texas have already made the transition to the automated service, and after communities adjust to the changes, the response has been positive, Waste Management representative Paul Daugereau told the Council.
Belton, Robinson, Harker Heights and Bellmead are among the communities served by Waste Management that have made the change.
"I had this service (the automated collection) in Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1981, and it worked great," said Mayor Gary Chumley.
