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The Village of Saukville has revamped the schedule of public access to its composting site.
Last year, the village significantly curtailed the time residents could bring yard waste to the Department of Public Works grounds as a cost-saving move.
This year, Public Works Committee has imposed a more modest adjustment, eliminating the Wednesday evening drop-off time.
Instead, the DPW yard will be available for dropping off yard waste only on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Residents still have six hours a week to bring their organic wastes for composting, but they would be concentrated in a single day.
“The reason for having all hours on one day is so residents do not have to worry about when we are open or not,” Public Works Director Roy Wilhelm said in a memo to the board.
He said eliminating the evening schedule also reduces the potential hazards at the site for crew members who have to work in the dark during the evening drop-off hours.
“We want to provide the same level of service to our residents, but the evening hours never seemed to be well used,” Wilhelm said.
The committee unanimously accepted Wilhelm’s proposal.
The panel also avoided the temptation to trim village spending even further at the DPW yard.
Village trustees agreed to continue offering the “spring cleanup” dumpster for three Saturdays, April 17, 24 and May 1.
Two dumpsters will be available at the DPW grounds on South Main Street on each of the scheduled days. Renting the dumpsters cost $2,000, and Wilhelm said he knew cutting the funding might be tempting considering the village’s tight budget.
“Money has been included in the 2010 budget, but considering the financial picture it is up to you to decide whether you want that money to be absorbed into other operations,” he said at a recent committee meeting.
Noting how well-received the dumpster program has been, committee members said they saw no reason to eliminate the funding.
Wilhelm said residents have commented how much they appreciate having the dumpsters available for major housecleaning, especially since it is a service few other communities offer.
He said the DPW crew would continue the more stringent controls implemented for the drop-off program last year.
Those measures include verifying that people dropping off items are village residents, and limiting the number of household items that can be dropped off.
“After last year’s changes, we really cut down on the volume, but again it is something we want to continue to provide to our residents. We virtually eliminated the use by non-residents,” Wilhelm said.
“The set up last year worked very well, with an attendant stopping people before they got to the dumpsters and letting them in as space allowed. This prevented the free for all that we have had in the past.”
He said residents will be advised that the state has tightened restrictions on recyclable items, meaning household electronics and computer components can no longer be dropped off in the dumpsters.
As in previous years, large appliances, construction debris, tires, oil and hazardous materials cannot be placed in the dumpsters.
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