The City of Syracuse may relax or eliminate penalties for residents who aren’t properly using their new trash carts. City officials are considering a number of amendments to the policies governing its new semi-automated trash collection system after hearing from residents and common councilors. Seven thousand property owners began rolling their 96 gallon carts to the curb in early June. Chief operations officer Corey Driscoll Dunham told common councilors last week they might return to warning stickers, which they first used in the early part of June.
“That would in effect suspend the fines, but pair that with education to let people know what it is that we expect them to do so that we can troubleshoot," Dunham said. "So we would propose, you know, our proposal is to do this for three to four weeks.”
Or, she says, they could consider lower fines.
“So rather than the $350.00 for illegal set outs which is you know you put out six TV's and a carpet and just trash everywhere, We could have a lower fee for just cart related violations.”
Driscoll Dunham says they’re simply trying to keep loose trash from blowing around neighborhoods.
“I mean, the idea is to keep the city clean. That's the whole point of this proposal," she said. "And so to leave trash at the curb because the lid is up a little bit really kind of defeats the whole purpose of the program. But in the immediate term, we would be issuing warnings so we wouldn't issue a fine for someone whose cart didn't close all the way.”
Either way, Driscoll Dunham says they’ll likely incorporate a modified plan for the rest of the city in phase two, which she expects will be rolled out around Labor Day. She hopes that gives residents enough time to learn proper trash cart protocol before winter.
