The Proper Time to Throw it Away!!

City of Lamar work crews and volunteers had just enough dry sky this past Saturday, April 30^th, to pick up all the trash set out on the curbs for collection during the Spring Clean-up project.  Southeast Colorado was treated to another long, soaking rain on Friday…even some big, wet snowflakes for a while, but skies cleared for the day long pick-up event that had trucks and front-end loaders traveling up and down the streets, collecting and hauling away truckloads of trash.  The tonnage tally is still being assessed.

As is usually the case, roamers who believe that one man’s trash can be another one’s treasure, travel the streets for an item they think can be recycled or re-sold during a future weekend yard sale. While it is discouraged by the city, most of the collections of this nature usually occur Friday night before the official collections start the next day at 7am. Crews and volunteers work hand in hand until a barbecue break at noon at Willow Creek Park, and then get back to it until quitting time, 4pm, when everything should be wrapped up.

Last Leg of the Journey

Lamar Public Works Director, Pat Mason, has said the amount of debris varies from year to year, depending on how much stuff is either bought or broken in a year’s time. Another annual collection project was also underway in front of the Lamar City Complex between 10am and 2pm, the annual Drug Take Back event during which residents can safely dispose of outdated medications.  A new feature was scheduled to coincide with that collection, for syringes, sharps or scalpels.  They too, would receive a safe and proper disposal.

By Russ Baldwin