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City wants your can off the curb April 28, 2008 - No reporter cited

Jim Pinson
Editor

NASHVILLE - City Council members are looking at giving teeth to the city ordinance concerning curbside trash bins.

Nashville is experiencing a problem with residents leaving their curbside trash bins on the city’s right-of-away.

Nashville provides trash carts to residents. The cost of each cart is $60 to the city of Nashville. The Sanitation Department does not charge residents for the use of the city’s carts.

Section 5.20.08 of the city code states that property owners shall use the curbside of their front yard for trash pickup in residential areas of Nashville. It also states that residents shall use plastic bags. Trash containers are to be placed on the curbside 24 hours prior to pickup and must be removed from the curbside the day of pickup.

City workers can place a placard on a resident’s cart or door asking them to remove their cart from the right-of-way, but currently there are no consequences for not removing the cart. 

Larry Dunaway, the city’s public works director, asked the city council to instruct George Steele, the city’s attorney, to research an amendment that will include consequences for not moving the trash carts for next month’s council meeting.

Several residents have complained about striking a cart that was left in the right-of-way.

One resident’s mirror was broken off their car when they struck a cart because they had to move over in an effort to avoid hitting another vehicle.

Mayor Mike Reese said that the city is attempting to make Nashville look nice and clean and “trash cans sitting on the side of the street” is not helping the city’s image.

SuddenLink officials informed the city council that the company would be making upgrades to the cable system in May.

A crew from Kansas will work on the cable tower, but the weather will need to cooperate. SuddenLink is attempting to improve the cable reception for subscribers in Nashville.

Council members also passed two resolutions and one ordinance.

One resolution was passed to place a lien on the property at 502 S. Mill Street that belongs to Joe Brown.

The lien is in the amount of $3,000 for the clean up of Brown’s property.

Nashville also entered into a matching fund program by passing a resolution to apply for a grant with the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Program.

Dunaway presented an ordinance to the council concerning oil and grease traps within the city limits.

The ordinance will prevent the illegal discharge or dumping of excessive amounts of fats, oils and grease into the city’s sewer system. Grease traps will now be mandatory for kitchen drains in hotels, restaurants, schools and other establishments that produce a high volume of grease.

All newly constructed food preparation facilities will be required to install a trap with a minimum of 1,000 gallon holding capacity. A fee of $25 will be charged to new and existing food preparation facilities for the inspection of traps and issuing of permits.

Melinda Stovall of 1001 Peachtree Street was issued a special permit to open a daycare in her home.

Beginning the first of May, a crew will begin surveying the city’s sewer lines with video imaging. Dunaway said the process “went well last year.”

The city discovered several problem spots in the sewer lines and was able to eliminate those problems to improve the water flow through those areas.

Several manhole locations were also located last year, which makes the cleaning of lines easier for city workers. 

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