Trash pickup timing

What a nightmare this has been - Enforcing this is next to impossible unless you put on our hazmat/CSI gloves and dig through the forsensic evidence/bills etc. We've tried to drill this message home, but the result of folks putting their trash out on ANY day of the week or putting it out early is ..1 - Animals get into the trash and drag it all over the neighborhodo, 2 - attracts rats, racoons, possums and other animals which might be rabid 3 - Trash blows all other neighborhood and then goes into the storm drains and from there it winds up in the storm water management ponds. Some folks just don't care, but I hope that these guidelines do help.

442 Trash/Recycle Containers. Containers shall be placed for pickup not earlier than 6:00 p.m. on the eve of scheduled pickup day and not later than 7:00 a.m. on scheduled pick-up day.
442.1 Trash is to be placed in appropriate plastic containers manufactured for trash storage. Dark, heavy-duty plastic bags shall be used to combine smaller, white trash bags and other small, loose items to prevent trash from blowing away on windy days. It is recommended that wet trash (kitchen garbage, etc.) be placed in covered containers as a deterrent to scavenger animals, domestic and wild.
442.2 Recycling materials should be placed in bins provided by the contractor and newspapers either tied or placed in paper bags. Loose newspapers tend to be
blown about by the wind.
442.4 Remove trash and recycle containers from curbs on the same day pick-up is
completed.
442.3 Containers must be stored so that they are screened from view from the street. Back yard or garage storage is preferred. Side yard storage is prohibited.
442.5 It is highly recommended that lids and containers be identified with the house number to assist neighbors in returning wind-blown items.
442.6 Do not store trash on upper decks. Wet trash being held in back yards for the next scheduled trash pickup shall be stored in a covered trash container for health, sanitary, and aesthetic reasons and also to deter scavenger animals, domestic and wild.

One man's trash is another one's treasure! Except that person NEVER lived in a HOA!!!

Our HOA had to use dumpsters instead of the normal "City pickup". We had to pay for the costs of the dumpsters (2) and their 2 pickup services a week. (Roughly $950 - $1000 a month NOT including recycling which was another $250) If the garbage pickup couldn't make it to the dumpster for pickup due to someone parking in front of the dumpster or in the street blocking them, they'd charge us a fee for a return pickup. We wanted to pass this charge to the person who caused it but that legislation fell through. Nearly impossible to enforce that fine. Especially if it was a visitor who didn't know the rules.

We didn't use the City's services even though they were available to us. Our streets used to be "Private" and therefore were NOT made to the standard width of the public roads. It made it a nightmare for us if we did put out individual trash cans as they would knock over into the road or scatter trash everywhere. Allowing the use of dumpsters instead is much better for us. Although the area around the dumpster does get nasty once and awhile. We try to clean it as it is needed. Matter of fact, I designated the dumpster area as a "safe place" for pets to do their "business". No one directly lived by the dumpsters.

My non-HOA home I live in now, I pay roughly $14 a month for pickup services. They come 2 times a week. Some areas only get 1 time a week due to the rise in gas costs. Plus we live in an extremely HOT area, so the garbage pickup route timing drastically changes in the summer. They pickup 1 - 2 hours EARLIER! The city has provided us with nice trash cans so the mess isn't too bad. We don't have any set rules on when to set the garbage out. However, if someone does put their garbage out days earlier, it indicates they may not be home. Something thieves pickup on quickly.

Some HOA's put fines on garbage offenders. I don't think that always accomplishes anything. Just makes people angry. There may be other considerations involved before going on a "fine hunt". You never know if it's a new person who doesn't know the rules or timing of garbage pickup. I would somehow convey to the people the proper trash etiquette in meetings or newsletters. Just a reminder of what should be done with the garbage. It may depend on your setup, but you may be able to change to dumpsters like we had. You may want to call the garbage company and find out if they have any suggestions. They are the one's who would be even more concerned on how the HOA decides how to manage their garbage. Don't be afraid to "shop around". There may be more than one company allowed to offer garbage pickup services. I know we had atleast 2 companies in our area that could do it.

Yes, Judith - I know what you mean, It's all about Trash, People, Pets, Poop,and Parking!

First off, the rules makers need to understand that not everyone works 9 to 5. Waiting until after dark to put out the cans would be more than a minor inconvenience to those whose work hours somewhat require them to be in bed early so they can be up for work at 4 or 5 am. in addition, lawsuits have been won by homeowners who were required to put trash out after dark and were robbed/beaten/mugged, etc.

But if want ridiculous, a local HOA - not mine thank goodness - knows that the garbage truck is very prompt ALWAYS and goes through from 7 am until 7:20 am. That HOA mandated that trash must be out no earlier than 6 am on the day of pick-up and that the cans must be removed form the curb and out of sight no later than 8 am! Guess what? People moved into their homes knowing this in advance - some even knew they were not able to be home during those precise times. They had to hire someone to handle their receptacles for them. The fine for receptacles being out at any other time is said to be (I did not verify this) $25 per can per instance!

As Judith, Gloria, Jerry and others have posted... this has fast become one of those "HOA Etiquette" issues in that no matter how a community mandates it, there is going to be one owner who will not follow the rules, and attempt to "march to the beat of a different drummer" just because......

To a person who may have never lived in an HOA this seems like a "silly" question. You put your can out, secure it so that it does not interfere with your neighbors, and you retrieve the can at a responsible time and manner later in the day. Simple.. right?

My community has trash issues as well, our recycling is picked up at a different time than regular trash removals. We have a county ordinance that requires that service vehicles over a certain "GVW" (gross vehicle weight) cannot travel in communities until after 0600hrs. Since we are the first community nearest the solid waste facility, and the company's office - guess who hears the squealing of hydrolic brakes at 0605hrs on pick-up days. (probably shouldn't mention this but it is a great "peep" show watching all of the just jumped out of bed folks running to get the cans to curb, when they hear those brakes)....

We have "not before 7pm the night before" and on "off-days" the cans must be stored in garage areas - of which our MC does do inspections, along with the "ARC" Committee rep's. I think for us, because of the way our community is situated, we get a "wind tunnel" effect along the roadways where trashcans would sit. So most owners know, and attempt to follow the reg's. The others who do not, know that each can is marked with ID numbers an it is easy to see which one is flying around and headed to Kansas with Dorothy and Toto....

SC, Are you saying that the person walks the streets at 6:30am the day after trash pickup to ensure that people take in their trash cans? i.e. day 1 -- put out trash after dark, day 2--trash gets picked up and trash cans should come in by dusk (interesting as it appears the trash could still not be picked up in the winter), day3 --person walks the neighborhood to make sure the trash can has been picked up.

Anyhow, if that is the scenario, the compliance committee is really dedicated! If your trash is really not picked up until 6pm sometimes it seems like there should be a little more leeway as to when to get that trash can in. I could imagine someone working nights and not being home in time to comply. I doubt, however, that there are that many people where that is the situation. I guess people just don't want to bring in their cans after dark?

Aren't there other trash companies around? It seems like that is far too big a spread in time for pickup. I would think you would have a lot of trouble with crows, etc. attacking the trash for it to be out so long. I would be more concerned about that than the trash cans myself.

Oh, too bad, if it is the county you can't do too much I suppose. I do think it is unreasonable for them not to be able to plan better than that and I would put pressure on whoever (government representative) trying to get the window a little shorter.

I personally am against rules that are not enforced. So, I wouldn't make "before dusk" and then not really enforce it until 24 hours later. I can understand the feeling of big brother, but whenever you have good enforcement like that you will have people objecting. Someone here suggested getting a camera and aiming it at the trash areas -- that spooks me! All that being said I think the rule a bit stringent given that they might not pick up the trash until after dusk -- well, more than a "bit stringent" I suppose.

I don't believe we have a town ordiance. Interestingly enough we have three different trash companies that run through our neighborhood all on different days. The board has the ability to pick one company and we presented this to our residents and there was almost a mutiny. They want to be able to choose their company and don't have a concern about trash cans laying around. We don't currently have any set rules on it. I do think there needs to be some flexibility but within reason for those HOA's who are concerned about it.

Judith:

you are correct, we are single family homes and they each contract for their own. Actually it was about 40% cheaper for our HOA to contract on behalf of the homeowners, however we never got the interest needed and there was a handful that attended the couple of meetings and were very irate about us trying to do that. In the end we decided to drop it. Ironically a couple of our sister associations tried the same thing and it didn't work, I still don't understand but it is what it is.

Money? I don't think it's about the money. I think it's about "control."

Even in our community, many residents, even those who LIKE to live in a deed restricted community, still feel a sense of propriety about their garbage. They agree to give up some control over their homes' exteriors, like no sheds or no above-ground pools, but it's their garbage, daXXit, and nobody is gonna tell them who they have to use to get rid of it and when they can and can't put it out (meaning day of the week).

I know because my husband is one of those. He likes to put out the trash on Sunday nights. He's done that for 10 years. If we were to go to community wide pick up with a single carrier, they might make that Weds. night and that would be just TOOO MUCH for him.

Sunday night is garbage night. Period. No matter HOW much he'd save otherwise.

(rolling eyes)

Michele, I find that take on it fascinating. Do you live in a TH community, or detached housing? (I do think it is important from the standpoint of the impact of the trash being out) Perhaps all of us who have trouble with trash rules have never asked people whether they would all want to just be in control of their own destinations. I am not sure most people here would want to be looking at the mess out there every day of the week however.

The City of Lone Tree pays for our trash collection. It is nice not to have several trash trucks on our streets every weekday. It is soooo nice that I suggest your HOA consider adding trash collection to your Covenants if you haven't already. Besides the financial savings there is the safety issue, the noise issue, and the street maintenance issues.

RogerB

It seems we should get our trash removed more frequently the once a week. We have about 192 units 21 buildings and each building shares 1-2 bins. These bins should be hot water pressured washed because my dear lord do they smell. Everything that falls in the ground is literally on the Catwalk and is disguting. The Manager doesnt really pay attention to these things and were exausted beyond our means arguing this issue with the Management company along with other issues. They do absolutely nothing to maintain the sorounding areas. How can we replace the Management company?

Roger the MC never return calls. Our buildings are falling apart. they do not care.