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Recycling: Trash the idea

Linda Carter, Minot

It is time to review. Several years ago Jason Sorenson and his Merry Band (the city council) decided that Minot needed to have automated trash pick-up. After all Bismarck and Fargo had it and it seemed to be working fine.

Since when do we need to keep up with the Joneses? Shouldn’t we be our own entity?

So several public meetings were held (which I attended) and despite the majority not being in favor of it, their minds were already made up beforehand and thus the meetings were basically a formality.

They had many reasons as to why we needed it, but the one that sticks out in my mind was that fact that on windy days trash bags blew all over the place.

This was not a factual statement. What got blown all around were the empty trash cans. So, the plan was implemented.

Next came choosing the desired size. Now I did a rough calculation of how much the city would be collecting each year (remember it’s a rough guess) and it came to almost 3 million dollars per year!! Not bad pocket change.

Step 3 came the rules of the trash world. Where to place the can, when to take it out, when to put it away, making sure the lid closed all the way etc. And so it began

Apparently no one is listening. Trash cans litter the streets 24/7. I suggest Sorenson and his merry band take a ride around town and look at how many cans line the streets.

I will give them a good starting point, go to 11th Ave. and head north on 3rd Street and you will (see) all the cans sitting out all the time. I call it Trash Can Street.

Go to 9th Ave. and look at the left out cans. One house in particular constantly overflows their can and when the wind comes,the lid flies open and away goes the trash! One day alone I picked up a box, foam packing, a pizza box, detergent container all blown onto my mother’s yard!

Now granted when a holiday hits and we have one less pick-up day they will overflow but residents should do a better job of controlling their trash! Just on Monday I watched as the collector picked up my two neighbors’ overflowing cans.

Here’s how it works, the arm grabs the can and lifts it up to a point and then it begins to tilt and lift higher up, with overflowing cans the bags begin to fall out before it can be lifted and dumped. 5 bags fell out between the 2 cans. The driver did get out and pick up 2 of the bags but left the other 3. It was a sight!!

I have a suggestion for Sorenson and the merry band. Take some of that 3 million dollars and print up those brochures for every household not just the ones who pay a water bill. Many renters do not pay a water bill and so do not receive one of these papers and so may not know the proper way of taking care of their cans. Some are not aware when trash is picked up (holidays) although it is printed in the newspaper.

At one time I was all for recycling but I am so not for it now. I am tired of the merry band and Sorenson having all these plans and not taking the wishes of homeowners into consideration. Get an idea and throw the cost onto the shoulders of the good people of Minot.

It is time for the good citizens of Minot to stand up and tell Sorenson and his merry band that enough is enough. Figure it out without throwing the cost onto the taxpayers of this city.

You need to clean up this mess figuratively and literally!! I suggest the whole idea of having curbside recycling should be scrapped. There are a lot of other, more important things to attend to.

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