Clutter collecting in the basements, attics and garages may have to stay there a bit longer.
The city of Superior is canceling its annual spring clean up that was slated to get underway near the end of April. Free landfill days that normally occur on Saturdays in late April and early May have been postponed tentatively to May 30 and June 6.
“The crew was very much in favor of canceling,” Mayor Jim Paine said.
Providing the service this year would require the excessive use of personal protective equipment to protect the health of the staff, Paine said.
From a public health perspective, what little is known about the new coronavirus is that it lives on surfaces and creates a risk for exposure, he said, in addition to the further risk of contamination from the rifling and picking that takes place once the discarded items are left outside.
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“It’s possible we could bring it back in the fall,” Paine said.
Bernard McCarthy of Twin Ports Trailer Trash offers an alternative for those who just can’t wait to clear out the clutter. He said with the pandemic, business has been slower than usual, but he’s willing to lend a hand where he can, including providing discounts to people who move their household items outside for collection.
“We do what we can to keep stuff out of the landfill,” McCarthy said. He said with Saver’s and Goodwill closed, he’s been working to build a network of nonprofits that can use some of the items.
McCarthy said his crews are wearing masks and nitrate gloves under their regular gloves for added protection. They also use hand sanitizer and sanitize the truck between jobs for added protection.
“We now have dumpsters, as well, so we can drop a dumpster off and people can fill up the dumpster themselves,” McCarthy said. He said neighbors could pitch in for the cost of a dumpster so multiple households could use it.
For information, call 218-206-7225 or visit duluthjunkremoval.com .
The decision to forgo the spring cleanup in Superior has no impact on the city’s annual effort to clear away brush, according to Linda Cadotte, director of the Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.
Collecting brush from people’s yards gets underway April 27 on a slightly different schedule than in years past.
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Instead of starting in North End, downtown, the area around the courthouse and post office, and the area around the Super One on Oakes Avenue, brush pick-up will start around the University of Wisconsin-Superior and Hayes Court and follow its normal schedule through town, concluding in the northernmost neighborhoods between May 26 and June 1.
Cadotte altered the schedule in response to people who expressed concern that the clean-up always came too early in the spring.
Notices that will go out with utility bills in the near future incorrectly state the brush pick-up has been postponed, Cadotte said.
