Garbage crackdown
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 30, 2015 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Beginning in mid September, citizens who do not place their bins according to the new city rules for the new automated garbage trucks will not be serviced.
Beginning Monday, Sept. 14, Goldsboro citizens will experience a change in consequences for not properly placing their garbage bins near the curb for collection.
Bins not placed according to city ordinances will no longer be serviced by the city's new automated garbage trucks purchased earlier this year.
The new rules include:
* Place your bin on the edge of the curb or pavement in front of your residence with three feet of clearance in all directions, including three feet of space between recycling and refuse bins.
* Put bins out before 6 a.m. on your scheduled collection day.
* Do not allow your garbage bin to overflow and do not place bags on top of your recycling or refuse bins.
* Bins must be placed with the opening toward the road and the handle toward your home.
To see which day bins in various neighborhoods are collected, go to refuse.goldsboronc.gov.
If a bin is not serviced because it was not placed properly or had too much overflow to be picked up, citizens can either wait until the next week or take the garbage to one of 13 landfill sites in Wayne County, which can be found at http://www.waynegov.com/page469.
There is a $5 tipping fee for all garbage taken to a landfill site.
If citizens feel they cannot help but have overflow at their containers, and do not wish to carry their extra garbage to one of the 13 landfills, they will be able to rent an extra garbage bin from the city for $4 per month.
The city implemented new routes and rules on June 1 under a "soft start," meaning citizens did not experience consequences for not following the new city ordinances. Rule enforcement was suspended to give citizens time to acclimate. Citizens only received stickers on their bins notifying them of improper placement.
Public Works Director Jose Martinez said compliance with the new rules since the soft start varies from area to area.
"In some areas you have 90 percent compliance, and in other areas you have 50 percent non-compliance," Martinez said.
Three temporary employees -- whose term of employment was extended until Sept. 11 after Monday night's council meeting -- are working with garbage truck operators to make sure the bins are placed properly.
When the new ordinances take full effect on Sept. 14, they will no longer be needed.
Martinez said "only a few complaints" have been received by the department about the new rules.
He added that the city expected there to be an adjustment period.
"If you've been doing something for 30 years straight, and then we go and start changing things and doing something new, it's going to be hard to change the way you've always done it," he said.