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Happy Holidays 2006

New year brings new trash service

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published December 20, 2006

Lealman residents will be getting a late Christmas present this year. For the first time, the county will begin providing the unincorporated area with unified garbage service starting Jan. 2.

"This is a New Year's gift to the Lealman community," said Ray Neri, head of the Lealman Community Association. "This is a new day for us."

Community activists lobbied for years to get the service.

Then, once they persuaded the Pinellas County Commission to provide it, they had to wait three years while statutory notices tolled before the service could begin.

The county will serve the middle portion of Lealman's eastern section.

It marks the first time the county will provide garbage service to an unincorporated area. Cities have been doing it for years.

"Everything we looked at was extremely positive," Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch said Tuesday. Welch spearheaded the drive on the commission for unified garbage service.

The advantages are clear - better service at a lower cost and, ultimately, a cleaner community, Welch said.

Welch said county officials are already receiving calls from other unincorporated communities that want similar service.

"Some are quite enthusiastic about it," Welch said. "This initial franchise is really a pilot in my view."

Neri said the service caps two other important developments in Lealman, including the renovation of Lealman Park and the Lealman Family Center, 4255 56th Ave. N.

"This is the frosting on the cake," Neri said of the service. "This is the one that saves you money. In a climate where gas has gone crazy, taxes have gone crazy ... this is a little bit of sanity."

Under the plan, residential property owners in the affected area will be billed for a year of service along with their property taxes.

For 2007, each "residential unit" will pay $168, which amounts to $14 a month.

That's substantially less than most Lealman residents who had service were paying, Neri said.

Previously, Neri said he was paying Waste Management $98 every three months, which amounted to about $32 a month or $392 a year.

The high cost was one factor that drove activists to ask for unified service.

Others complained about spotty service and various carriers who charged different rates and picked up on different days. That meant garbage could be seen on the streets every day.

Some residents had garbage service and others did not. A few of those allowed their garbage to pile up.

Neri said he believes other unincorporated areas will want to copy Lealman once they see how effective the service is.

"It's great that Lealman was the first in the county to have this," Neri said. "Lealman is always proud to be a leader in doing some of this stuff."

"This is a New Year's gift to the Lealman community. This is a new day for us."

Ray Neri, head of the Lealman Community Association

Common questions about the new service

When will the new service begin?

Starting Jan. 2, residents can take their trash to the curb on the days set by County Sanitation Inc. Residents should call their current waste haulers to have that service discontinued after December.

Garbage will be collected twice a week, and bulky waste will be removed on the second scheduled day of the week.

County Sanitation distributed door tags in mid November listing collection days.

Who is covered by this service?

Solid waste collection and disposal service will be provided to single family, duplex, triplex, and quadraplex dwelling units, as well as units in mobile home parks.

Who is not covered?

Commercial properties, industrial complexes, and other non-residential properties. Multi-family residences that have more than four dwelling units also are not included.

Some commercial mobile home parks that qualified were exempted if the mobile home parks use industrial size commercial containers in common areas. Those include:

Avery Acres Mobile Home Park, Caroline Trailer Park, Contemporary Housing, Courtesy Rentals, Disston Mobile Home Park, Florida Sands Trailer Park, Hidden Village Mobile Home Park, Highland Mobile Home Park, King of the Road Mobile Home Park, Mobile Manor Mobile Home Park and North Ridge Mobile Home Park.

Also, Oak High Mobile Home Park, Palace Mobile Home Park, Palm Haven Mobile Home Park, Pinellas Mobile Home Park, Rahn's Mobile Home Park, Shady Oaks Mobile Home Park, Silver Lake Mobile Resort, Southern Air Mobile Home Park, Sun Cove, Sunrise Mobile Home Park, Sunshine City Mobile Home Park, Villa Plumosa Mobile Home Park, Wilson's Trailer Court and Wood Acres Mobile Home Park

What will be collected?

All garbage and trash placed in containers or bags not exceeding 45 gallons or 50 pounds each. All yard waste set out with garbage and trash will be collected as long as such yard waste is containerized, bagged, or piled loose, but does not exceed 4 feet in length and 4 inches in diameter.

Bulky waste will be collected with garbage and trash once a week, on the second pickup day of the week. Bulky items include furniture, appliances, and other similar objects, but excludes extraordinary wastes such as abandoned automobiles, boats, individual tree branches or stumps longer than 4 feet.

Still have questions? Call County Sanitation at 522-5794 or Pinellas County Solid Waste at 464-7500, or visit www.pinellascounty.org/utilities/lealman.htm.

Source: Pinellas County

[Last modified December 20, 2006, 02:07:14]