March 29, 2024

Clean Sweep Days returns to Creston

Residents can get rid of large items for free or a small charge

The City of Creston and the Creston Chamber of Commerce have teamed up Oct. 22 to Nov. 2 for the return of Clean Sweep Days.

“We did it nine years ago,” said Executive Director of the Creston Chamber of Commerce Ellen Gerharz. “We had done it a couple of years prior to that, and the first couple of years we did it, we had a great turnout. Then, the last two years we did it, there was hardly any interest so we just stopped it.”

Gerharz said she and city officials were thinking of ways to help residents clean up their spaces, but realized that a lot of people did not have access to a truck or people to help them load and haul large items to the landfill. They decided to give Clean Sweep Days another try.

Prairie Solid Waste Management is working with the City and the Chamber during the program to dispose of the items, and while some items, such as washers, toilets, freezers and furnaces, can be picked up for free, residents will be charged a small fee for other items because everything city workers pick up still has to be weighed and the disposal of those items paid for.

Items not included on the list and that cannot be picked up are construction and demolition waste, hazardous materials, including explosives, and vehicle parts.

Residents who want to have items picked up and hauled off need to visit the Chamber office or Lisa Williamson at the City office and fill out a small form. There is a partial list of items that can be picked up. For anything not on the list, Gerharz recommends residents call the Chamber office, 782-7021, or Lisa Williamson at the City, 782-2000 extension 203.

“People need to come and sign up because the city crews may drive by a house that has items out, but if it’s not on their list, they’re not going to stop and pick it up,” said Gerharz. “It’s not like the garage sales, you know, when people have a garage sale during the Citywide Garage Sale and one person will buy an ad and then there will be six garage sales on the block. There’s a process. There might be a charge for the item. There might not be, but the city crews are not going to just drive around and see an item and pick it up.”

The list on the Chamber website will give residents an idea of what they may have to pay by checking the list for items similar in weight, but Gerharz said the small fee is still less than it would cost if the resident hauled the item to the landfill.

Another thing Gerharz believes people don’t realize is that part of the contract between the City of Creston and Waste Management is that residents can put one item a week by the trash cans, and as long as one person can pick it up and put it in the truck they will haul it off for free.