City’s trash pickup days changing

It’s a move that’s been 20 years in the making. The city of Danville will changie some of its collection days for refuse and yard waste.

“A change in collection days hasn’t been done in 20 years, and over that time we have had a shift in housing populations,” Rick Drazenovich, director of public works, said Thursday. “Populations have gotten lighter in some areas, and new subdivisions have been built.”

As scheduled now, the heavier routes are at the end of the week, which Drazenovich said can necessitate overtime on Saturday if trucks break down during the week.

The biggest change will be that the Monday and Friday pickup schedule will be switched with other smaller changes to the Thursday routes. Tuesday and Wednesday will not change at this time.

All the affected residents will receive postcards in the mail explaining the change, which will be effective on Thursday. Yard debris will continue to be picked up the same day as the trash.

Another reason for the change is that the city has changed transfer stations — the place where Danville’s trash it is taken after it is collected.

“The transfer that used to occur off Goodyear Boulevard is now down at the First Piedmont Corp. site on Clark’s Mill Road at the eastern end of the city limits,” Drazenovich said. “We rebid the transfer station contract in July 2008, and First Piedmont won. It is less expensive, and it is operating smoothly.”

From the transfer station, the refuse is sent to the Upper Piedmont Environmental Landfill in Rougemont, N.C., next to Roxboro, N.C.

Yard waste is sent to a compost facility adjacent to Danville Regional Airport, where it is composted and given to city residents free.

Danville’s Sanitation Division has seven crews of refuse collectors and four yard waste crews.

“We think we will see a smoother operation, although we may have to tweak it and do some marginal changes to get it sized right,” Drazenovich said. “We haven’t raised the refuse rate in many years. All these moves are to increase efficiency and keep the rates low. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”