City offering monthly bulk pickup

The city of Park Hills will now offer bulk trash pickup on a monthly basis for each ward free of charge.

As a result of the unanimous decision of the city council on Tuesday, bulk trash pickup will be available to the residents looking to dispose of large unsightly debris on their properties monthly, rather than three times per year.

Mayor Daniel Naucke brought up the change and made clear his desire to see the city cleaned up as quickly as possible.

Naucke proposed that instead of charging a fee for providing the service weekly, it should be implemented free of charge.

Waiving the $7.50 fee that has been charged previously for the pickup of bulk items would leave no excuse for people to not to get rid of junk and large items on their lawns, Naucke explained.

“Now it won’t cost anything so there’s no reason for [people] not to drag it out to the sidewalk and let us pick it up,” he said.

Previous to this change, residents would have to go to city hall during the second full week of their ward’s month, pay the fee, and get placed on a list of properties in need of items picked up. The city’s public works department would then come by and collect the discarded items placed on the sidewalks in front of the properties listed.

It would then be four months before bulk pickup was offered for their ward again as the service was only offered to one particular ward per month. Each property previously only had the opportunity for pickup three times per year. The mayor suggested that was too long to wait and debris was piling up saying, “We need to try this and see what happens … I’ve got couches everywhere.”

“If we set it up where everybody has an equal opportunity. They can call city hall and say, ‘this is my week’ … Let’s break it down to a week … It’s not going to hurt us.”

With the new change in policy, residents can now simply call and request that large waste items, such as old furniture, be picked up. The weight limit for items discarded is 250 pounds.

The first week, pickup will be offered in ward 1, the second week will be ward 2, the third week is ward 3, and the final week of each month will be ward 4. The process will then repeat each month.

This process of pickup will be tested for three to four months to gain insight into the efficiency and logistics of the new plan.

The move comes as the council has continually expressed and implemented plans to clean up the appearance of the city in recent months. As Park Hills looks to crack down on nuisance properties, the change in policy is an aligned action and the removal of unwanted and discarded bulk items from properties within the city is a priority as well.

City Administrator Mark McFarland said the city hopes to get started with the pickup beginning Monday.

Park Hills Mayor Daniel Naucke explains his proposal for more frequent bulk trash pickup in efforts to clean up the city.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3628, or at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com.