Most Abide by the Rules......But, Then Again....

BEATRICE – No matter how successful a large-item recycling program is each year in Beatrice, there will always be those who will bend, if not break the rules.

"You'd like to think as long as we've been doing this, people would understand....but it doesn't always work that way".

This year, Street Superintendent Jason Moore’s crews made use of a computer program to track locations that had items picked up from curbside, and those where items were left because they didn’t fit with the rules. The new system allowed officials to track which direction loaders were traveling and was a great improvement from past practices. Residents registered in advance to have their location picked up.
"It took just a little bit of time for the guys to get used to it, on Monday. But, I think it's light years above where we were. It is kind of nice that when people call in and complain, we can click on it and like this pile, I'm sure everyone has seen at 13th and Lincoln....you can see why this pile was turned down".

The rules of the recycling program are listed each year on the city’s website. Wednesday, Moore gave a report on this year’s project to the Board of Public Works.
Moore says there was an increase in the number of so-called white goods, this year…because of low prices for iron.

Crews encountered a few deep freezes that were sealed by tape. Moore said that’s usually because there’s spoiled meat, inside.
"We had six or seven deep freezers that we would have to load, that were full of rotten meat. They stunk so bad. The landfill can't take them and the scrap yard can't take them, with meat in them. We took them down to our 1st and Ella location where we have a dirt pile. We used our skid loader to tip them over and dump their contents out...and then we would mix in with dirt. On Thursday, we loaded that dirt and rotten meat, and hauled it out to the landfill".

In his words, Moore added, “a couple of guys lost their breakfast”, because of the rotten meat. Moore says there were about 123 addresses with items that crews could not pick up….54 addresses were rejected completely.

"We've also been doing the program since 1989, and the rules haven't changed since 1989....really, no boxes, no bags, no garbage".

Other problems included leaving out more items at one location than a single truck could haul away or sandwiching garbage between large items. Public Works Board Member Darin Baehr says he’d like to see people do a better job of reading the rules.

"I'd like to see the community buy in a little bit more and help us, rather than thinking the city is here to pick up their dirty laundry. I'm not saying we should stop doing it, but this isn't necessarily right, either".

Crews also disposed of seventeen 30-cubic-yard roll-off containers filled with mattresses, at the 1st and Ella drop-off site. Moore says ten mattresses were shoved into a nearby rail car, which had to be removed by the city. Some people discarding mattresses had vehicles with out-of-county plates…some from Kansas.

The clean-up project this year racked up 408 total hours, and 400 miles traveled by city trucks and loaders. The Monday-through-Wednesday effort, which was postponed from April, collected items from 1,243 addresses.