Countywide cleanup expected to net 1,400 tons of garbage

Spring cleaning in Jessamine County kicked off the week of March 23 through March 31 with the county’s 24th annual countywide cleanup. Since that time, crews have been working to collect all the trash residents put out on the curbs, Jessamine County Environmental Services director Mike Cassidy said.

“Right now, we’re about 70 percent complete, and the last time I checked, we were at 700 tons. We are anticipating it to come in at around 1,400 tons,” Cassidy said. “(Nicholasville) provides trucks from the water department and street department, and the same can be said for the county, and the state road department also pitches in and helps us out this week.”

There is a whole lot more trash this year compared to the 2011 cleanup, Cassidy said.

“Last year was a little bit light. We did 900 tons for the whole cleanup,” he said.

The cleanup is free to residents, but it is a service for which the Jessamine County Fiscal Court pays. Each year, the cleanup is budgeted at $75,000, and whatever money is leftover returns to the general fund.

Cassidy said everything is going smoothly, and he hopes that the remaining trash is picked up by Friday afternoon.

When the cleanup first began, crews worked from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. picking up trash. The hours have been scaled back a bit this week to avoid unnecessary overtime costs, with crews now working from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Once everything is collected, the trash will be taken to a landfill in Irvine, Cassidy said.

The type of trash is typical, Cassidy said, with furniture items such as mattresses, but this year, he said there has been a lot more wood in the trash.

“We’ve had a lot of scrap wood this year,” he said. “I don’t know what’s causing it; I don’t know if people are tearing down old buildings or what it is, but it’s very, very old wood.”

While the cleanup is designed to pick up trash, there were some items prohibited from being picked up, including shingles, drywall, commercial debris, wet paint, limbs, brush and tires.

Cassidy said for the most part, residents have been abiding by the rules.

“We still have people who put some tires out, and there’s been a lot of brush put out this year, which we don’t take,” he said.

For more information about the countywide cleanup, visit www.jessamineco.com.