Official: Switch from shared containers in response to dumping, truck maintenance

CNJ staff photo: Liliana Castillo Sanitation Superintendent Rey Martinez said the new 98-gallon polycart trash cans will be taken to the curb twice a week for garbage pick up to reduce the amount of maintenance trucks need from traveling problematic alleys to empty containers.

Clovis’ Public Works department is looking at switching parts of the city from using shared garbage containers to trash cans for individual homes.

Public Works Director Clint Bunch said the switch came in response to an inordinate amount of maintenance needed on trucks that travel through alleys to get to containers.

Bunch also said illegal dumping was occurring along the city limits.

Polycarts hold 98 gallons, compared to 121 gallons a household may use in a shared container. A polycart will cost $29.93 a quarter in garbage fees, which is the same cost as a container. The cart itself will cost $53, while a shared metal container costs about $75 a household.

The proposal to switch areas with problematic alleys from containers to polycarts was approved by the Public Works Committee during a Sept. 23 meeting, Bunch said.

Sanitation Superintendent Rey Martinez said some of the problem areas include new subdivisions in which alleys are being dug up repeatedly to install utility lines. Martinez said trenches for utility lines aren’t always compacted correctly and trucks that consistently run up and down the alleys need more maintenance.

Bunch said the idea of using polycarts citywide has been suggested but more information would be needed on how the transition would take place.

He also said transitioning to the use of polycarts could lead the city toward a recycling program.

“Everyone is going green, and we want to be on board with that,” Bunch said.

Each residence could have two polycarts, one for garbage and one for recycling, he said. Polycarts will be picked up twice a week, the same frequency with which containers in alleys are emptied.