Do You Have Trash Can Envy?

By day they’re strewn lovingly across the yard, they lie on their sides in the sun, some are half-tucked away in the little chain link and two-by-four barricades meant to hold them. They’re unsightly, but they’re mostly harmless.

By night, they show their true colors. Often found standing tall and proud at erratic intervals in the middle of the right lane on Avenue N. between Bryant and Jackson, obtrusive black trash barrels turn the street into anything but an exciting obstacle course; rather it’s more of a nuisance, a hazard, a cause for outrage, and an expensive little mishap should you not be able to swerve in time.

Most drivers have learned to avoid the lane, others are still rounding the learning curve (at accelerated speed and with the agility of a rally car driver), and still others are wondering why they should have to. Is there not a regulation in place to keep these cans in check?

“They’re supposed to be in a secured location,” says City of San Angelo Operations Director Shane Kelton. “…not just set up all willy-nilly out there. This is west Texas, so the wind will get to some and carry them off…and kids will too…but they’re supposed to be secured.”

And while supposed to may sound to some like nothing more than a suggestion, and wind and mischievous children may provide solid alibis, most drivers can attest to the fact that the barrels are in fact only rarely caged.

But with the trash collected from San Angelo alleys and Avenue N. serving as a rather long and busy one, can anything be done about the runaway cans?

The answer is, tentatively, yes.

We’ve all seen those big, fancy, blue trash carts on certain San Angelo streets, and some have probably started wondering why their neighborhoods don’t have them.

Well, the carts are part of a (now completed) pilot program initiated by Republic Services in the beginning of 2012 to provide the City Council with options when they begin renewing contracts.

The carts are part of an automated service, which requires a special truck with a hydraulic arm. The arm then does the lifting—that used to be the duty of two trash men—and empties the container into the truck.

Another upside? The trash carts are picked up next to the carports of houses rather than in the alleys, meaning Avenue N. would be free and clear, Republic Services Municipal Services Manager, Robert Searls says.

The pilot program showed a good response from the areas tested, and Republic Services General Manager Kenneth Ramzinski assures they tried to do a sampling representative of the entire community, placing 100 carts in each councilmember’s district, Ramzinski said.

Republic Services then hired a third party to survey participants following the pilot with a 71 percent response rate. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed liked using the cart and the service, Ramzinski said. “That was consistent in all the areas.”

But if the result of the pilot was so good, why don’t we all have the spiffy new cans? And furthermore, why are we still dodging the personal ones on Avenue N.?

Well, currently, the only thing holding the entire city back from enjoying the services of the fancy blue trash bins is a sluggish City Council.  Although the results of the survey and the pilot were presented to Council last October, the changeover of members and remaining Republic contract has stalled any forward action.

But it’s also dependent on Council making a decision on what the city needs. Republic offers both recycling and trash services, and basically it comes down to determining the services and the frequency of service that the city wants to go with, Searls says.

Republic Services intends to leave the nice bins in place until the Council reaches a decision. Should they opt for hand pick up, the bins will likely be re-collected. Until then, happy driving.