Large Item Campaign Popular, Pandemic or Not

BEATRICE – The Beatrice Clean City annual large-item collection at curbside turned out to be a big success this year, despite having to be postponed a month because of the coronavirus pandemic. More pickup sites were registered than last year.....up 60 to a total of about 1,250.

That’s the number of residential addresses that were signed up, this year. Mayor Stan Wirth says figures supplied by Street Superintendent Jason Moore indicate Monday was the largest day of the three-day pick-up.
"There was some 69 partial pickups, where there might have been a lot of trash and garbage...and maybe a recliner. So, they picked up the recliner and left the garbage for Sanitary Garbage Company to pick up".

City Street crew members went to just over 200 locations where the items left at curbside were already gone….scavenged by persons scooping up some item they wanted.

Wirth publicly thanked street department and public works employees for their efforts in an annual project that isn’t offered in many cities.

"A big thank you to them for what they have done. This is a service to the community that the city provides at no cost to the individuals who put their used materials out on the street. They do a nice job every year, of just trying to clean up everything they possibly can".

This year, the city again had a drop-off site at 1st and Ella, for disposal of old mattresses.  "Seven or eight roll-offs per day...filled with used mattresses, and those were hauled away. I just can't imagine year after year after year, we have that many. But, we do".

Several years ago, the collection switched from a five-day, to a three-day schedule…something Wirth says has worked out well and meshes better with other public projects that need to be accomplished.