Westbrook residents will soon be able to tag their carpets, couches and beds, set them out by curbside and let the trash collector take care of the rest.
City councilors on Monday approved the creation of a limited, bulky item collection funded by a tag system. It is at least a partial replacement for the city’s former big-item pickup, suspended in 2004, that City Council President Brendan Rielly had wanted reinstated.
Tags for each box spring, carpet and piece of wood furniture will cost a resident $15. Tags for each mattress, couch and piece of stuffed furniture will cost $20. After affixing the tags to the items, residents will be able to leave the items with their regular trash for pickup by the regular collection system. However, only one of each item can be discarded through the system by a single residence in a single year, and only one item per residence can be left out per week.
The tag system is expected to pay for the program and not require any tax dollars to operate, though the city administration implied that there could be up to $3,000 a year in costs.
Mayor Bruce Chuluda said he would support the program if the councilors chose to move forward on it, but would prefer not to. Councilor Ed Symbol argued against the system, saying that there were a number of hidden costs that were not identified, the program could reasonably be expected to cause budgetary and operational headaches and the private sector has companies that could service residents more efficiently.
Councilor John O’Hara echoed Symbol’s comments, saying that the city should not be involved in the business. He asked om Eldridge, public services director, what he thought of the program. Eldridge replied that it would not be implemented without some difficulty, and that if it did not work it would be hard to take the service away from the residents who used it.
Councilor Drew Gattine doubted the private sector’s ability to pick up single items for $20, and thought that bulky item pickups were a great service and helped mitigate fire hazards created through cluttered basements and garages. Likewise, Rielly thought that picking up large, unwanted items was a great service to the city.
Councilor Suzanne Joyce also voted against the program on Monday, where it passed in a 4-3 vote.
The city will be advertising shortly to provide further details on the program, which begins Oct. 9.
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