By: Mat Cloak
The Parsons Advocate
Last week was the Parsons annual fall cleanup. The Parsons Maintenance Department picked up trash from 150 homes, totaling five tractor and trailer loads and one dump truck load.
Marshall Parsons was the man at the helm of the big clean. As maintenance manager of the city, Parsons knew from experience the cleanup would be a lot of work. “It’s been pretty big this year, but it’s like that every year,” Parsons said. “There’s a lot of stuff.”
Participants of the cleanup resided within the city limits. Residents opted to either have their trash picked up at their homes or to drop it off themselves at the city’s maintenance facility.
Parsons and his team ran loads of trash throughout week. Trash pick up was only scheduled for two days last week, but the maintenance team was on the job every day. “We haven’t stopped all week,” Parsons said. “If it was just for two days, we wouldn’t get it all.” Cadets from the Rubenstein Center also helped on the project.
The residents of Parsons were prepared to part with whatever they did not need anymore. “You name it, we’ve picked it up,” Parsons said. Many residents use the opportunity to get rid of larger items, like furniture, that would be difficult to transport to the dump on their own.
The annual cleanups began over a decade ago when the City Council noticed a number of properties were in violation of city code. “We started this as an incentive to get these properties cleaned up,” City Administrator Jason Myers said. Citations are issued if a property is not within code. “We don’t want to slap people with fines, we wanted a solution to the problem,” Myers said. Myers reported that he personally called multiple residences to remind them of the opportunity to clean up their property.
The garbage fund, part of City Council’s budget, pays for labor and landfill fees associated with the cleanup. A dump trailer from D & W Truck Lines was loaned out for free to the maintenance department for dump runs. Commercial waste, oil, paint, fuel oil, batteries, and chemicals were not accepted. Residents were able to dispose of tires for an additional fee.
