New Canaan should look again at an ineffective, money-saving change that saw the town adopt a “carry-in, carry-out” policy in lieu of more garbage cans at public parks, officials said Tuesday.
A garbage receptacle near the soccer fields at Waveny. Credit: Michael Dinan
Residents are asking why there aren’t more receptacles at places such as Waveny and litter has become increasingly commonplace as a result, according to Selectman Nick Williams.
“I get a lot of complaints on this and I think maybe it’s something we may want to look at,” Williams said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting, held at Town Hall. “And I want to know historically how this came about, and what the cost-savings was projected. We have the [PFA] Beautification Committee at New Canaan High School doing great things, now we should continue that trend.”
The comments came as the selectmen approved 3-0 a $7,500 contract with a Wilton-based refuse company to take on year-round garbage and recycling services at Lapham Community Center, Waveny Pool, Mead Park and Kiwanis Park.
Recreation Director Steve Benko said the Town Council about six or seven years ago switched to a carry-in, carry-out policy with the Department of Public Works providing four dumpsters at Waveny including the water tower turf field, two at Mead, one at Irwin and two at NCHS by the athletic fields.
Benko said some team sports do better than others in terms of corralling players’ trash at games.
Tom Stadler, administrative officer in the office of the first selectman, noted that “it’s more than the sports organizations” causing problems at the parks.
“I take my grandkids to the playgrounds and the playgrounds are a mess,” he said.
Stadler added that he had served as head of the Park & Recreation Commission at the time of the change, and he has never supported it.
Selectman Beth Jones recalled that the Town Council at the time faced a decision between switching the policy or dedicating far more money to the Department of Public Works in order for the agency to put the manpower required to empty the garbage receptacles. Benko added that some DPW workers had been hurt because the receptacles themselves would fill up quickly and grow unmanageably heavy.
“People want to keep their taxes low,” Jones said. “You can’t have it both ways. You can’t have really good roads and not spend money on roads. You can’t have clean parks and not spend money on parks.”
Williams questioned whether the change has been effective.
“That experiment doesn’t seem to work very well in this town,” he said.
First Selectman Rob Mallozzi suggested the selectmen communicate its thoughts to the Town Council’s chairman, for a further discussion in next year’s budget planning.
I have a highly visited part of my property in a neighboring town where people come to feed my animals. I used to put a garbage can out and it was always overflowing and a real litter attractant. I took away the garbage can and the littering basically stopped. I can imagine kids at ball fields are a different story, but the coaches should be teaching them no to litter.
I invited friends from out of town to meet us at Mead Park. We were appauled by all the garbage everywhere. Everything from empty juice boxes, McDonalds trash, empty snack bags to even a rolled up (used) diaper were tossed here and there. My friend noted “Gee, you’d think a town like New Canaan would have garbage cans for people to use at their parks.”
I had no reply, she was right.
The carry in, carry out policy doesn’t work. Most of the culprits are children who may not realize the importance of proper trash disposal. This is not a monstrous budget item. If receptacles are provided and emptied at appropriate intervals then the problem will cease. At this point it is embarrassing.
I used to regularly frequent Waveny and Spencer’s Run with my two Weimaraners. Very shortly after the ” carry I carry out” I stopped going all together because there was too much build up of in collected “waste”-