Town sets date for trash cleanup
By Matthew Whittle
Published in News on April 20, 2007 1:50 PM
By Sunday, town officials are hoping Mount Olive will be looking a little fresher and a little cleaner.
Hosting a town-wide litter sweep on Saturday, with sunny weather and temperatures in the upper-60s to lower-70s predicted, Town Manager Charlie Brown is expecting a good turnout for the four-hour event.
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., town employees will be working alongside volunteers to pick up trash around town.
It's the first time such a joint effort has been made in Mount Olive. Previously, town employees did the work themselves. This time, while they're still out working this week, Brown's hoping a good community turnout on Saturday will make their efforts even more successful.
"It's something the town does every year, but this year we're actually soliciting volunteers and will have town personnel go out with them for about four hours and try and clean up the litter off the streets," he said.
Volunteers should meet at Westbrook Park at 9 a.m. From there, they will be divided into smaller groups as they tackle the entire town.
"We've already targeted specific areas," Brown said. "We've done a survey of the town and found where there's a lot of litter and trash lying around."
But it's not, he added, an invitation for people to pull all their white goods and other trash to the curb.
"We just want to pick up from the streets and the public areas of the town," he said.
He believes it will turn out to be a successful event -- one that can be become a yearly tradition.
"I'm hoping we get at least 15 to 20 people to help. It's a Saturday morning, so I don't know how we'll do, but if we can get 15 to 20, that'd be good," Brown said.
After the cleanup, volunteers will meet at Westbrook Park for a free hot dog lunch.
"It's not just about picking up trash," he said. "It's also about bringing people in the community together to work ... for the common good."
In a related event for those people with big-ticket trash items, the county will be holding its annual Amnesty Day at the county landfill April 28.
From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. the landfill will waive the normal tipping fee for all county residents except for commercial businesses and waste haulers.
The landfill will accept wood, bricks, limbs, yard waste and construction debris. It also will accept furniture, white goods and tires. Other items it will accept include old bicycles, storm doors, grills, metal lawn furniture, metal swing sets and lawnmowers without gas tanks.
All items will be accepted for free.
Hazardous wastes and liquids will not be accepted.