By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

Twin Cities folks should think before they dump their debris on the side of the road for spring cleanup.

Some Lewiston residents are no longer eligible for the annual trash collections, and Auburn isn’t offering curbside collection this year.

Lewiston’s spring cleanup has become much smaller, thanks to the punch passes given to residents. They may stop by City Hall to pick up passes that let them take a limited amount of trash to the city landfill, free of charge. The passes are valid all year long, according to city waste disposal Superintendent Rob Stalford.

“People are taking advantage of that, and that means that there is less left curbside each spring,” Stalford said.

Spring cleanup is limited to residents of single-family homes and apartments of three units or fewer. People in large apartment buildings, people who have trash collected by the city or people who pay for city collections can’t leave things curbside.

“That means that it’s much quicker for the crews doing the collecting,” Stalford said. In years past, crews would spend five weeks doing spring cleanup every day. This year, he expects them to finish each week’s collection by Wednesday.

“That means those crews are available for other services,” Stalford said. “They can do things like road service and repairs.”

Residents who have regular Monday or Tuesday trash collections need to have their items curbside by 7 a.m. Monday, April 11.

Collections for residents whose trash is collected on Wednesdays begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 19 (April 18 is Patriots Day). Those with Thursday collections should have their trash at the curb by 7 a.m. Monday, April 25. And for people who have regular collection on Fridays, waste needs to be at the curbside by 7 a.m. Monday, May 2.

Residents can leave up to six bulky items – including one television or computer monitor and one appliance containing freon – and three cubic yards of solid waste. That includes piles of brush, leftover construction waste and trash.

The city is also being more strict about people who put their trash out late. The city will deliver notices to residents who leave trash on curbs after the crews have gone past. Fines will be a minimum of $200, Stalford said.

“It may sound like a negative, but the city does look neater and cleaner,” Stalford said. “The positive side is, most residents appreciate that.”

No cleanup

Funding for spring cleanup in Auburn was cut from the budget last year, said Sid Hazelton, assistant public works director. “Hopefully, we’ll be doing a lot to remind people before they start putting things out.”

Auburn planned to stop the curbside collections in 2004, but found $11,000 in savings from other trash collection budgets to bring it back. Last spring, Auburn crews took old scrap metal, brush and lumber.

There’s no saving it this year, Hazelton said.

“What surprised me most last year was how many people didn’t actually want spring cleanup,” he said. “For many people, it was a service they looked forward to and we got quite a few calls from them. But a number of people said they didn’t like it and didn’t use it.”

That makes it easier to cut this year, he said.

“We’d rather use the money on something that serves everybody,” he said.

Auburn residents can take bulky waste, old furniture and appliances to the Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. incinerator on their own, Hazelton said. They will be charged $4.50 per 50 pounds of bulky waste such as old brush, construction waste and furniture.

Scrap metal and appliances may be left for free, but refrigerators, air conditioners and the like must have the freon drained from them first. MMWAC charges $3 apiece for tires.

“They need to keep in mind that there is no rush there,” Hazelton said. “They can bring stuff in year-round. They don’t just have to do it this week.”