THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 31, 1994 TAG: 9408310470
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Surprised to learn that some residents' trash sits at the curb until 7 p.m., the City Council on Tuesday told the Public Works director that city trucks must finish their rounds by 3 p.m.
``It's disappointing to see people hustling to get their trash out at 7.30 a.m. and then not have it picked up until 6 p.m. at night,'' Councilman Paul Riddick said.
Burdened by staff cuts, the city's garbage collectors have been lengthening their days to get the job done, said John Keifer, director of Public Works. The cuts were partially in anticipation of a shift next week to a new system in which trash will be picked up once a week - instead of twice - with trucks that require fewer workers.
Keifer accepted the council's dictate. But in an interview afterward, he said the 3 p.m. mandate could keep the department from switching to a four-day workweek. The shorter week is a key part of a plan to save money by restructuring the city's trash operations.
The issue of how late is too late to pick up trash came up by surprise. Keifer was before the council to suggest a new law requiring residents to get empty trash cans off the streets during noncollection days.
But Riddick sharply told Keifer the city had no business putting new restrictions on citizens when it couldn't pick up trash in a timely fashion. Riddick told of his own trash, both at home and at his business, sitting out until early evening.
After other council members joined in the discussion, City Manager James Oliver responded by saying the council had never instructed the city to pick up trash by a certain hour. At that, Mayor Paul Fraim said 3 p.m. seemed reasonable, and other council members agreed.
``It's like a bell that goes off when you come home and the trash is still there,'' Fraim said.
The council's edict comes just as the city's trash-collection operation prepares for major changes. Next week, most of the city will convert from twice-a-week trash collection to once a week. Automated trucks will pick up and empty trash from newly distributed 90-gallon containers.
With the new system, the department had planned to shift to a work week of four 10-hour days, Tuesday through Friday. This would save money because workers would not have to be paid overtime to work Mondays, the day most often a holiday during the year, Keifer said.
But if their day ended at 3 p.m., workers would have to start too early in the morning to work 10 hours.
``I think it will be a challenge'' to meet the council's goal, Keifer said. ``We may need to change schedules, or add people and trucks. I can't say definitively.''
The city manager and Riddick differed on whether the new once-a-week pickup was an improvement. Oliver said residents would see unsightly trash cans outside only once a week. But Riddick said people like the more frequent service.
``The citizens don't want just one pickup a week,'' he said. by CNB