From stracy at davis.com Mon Apr 26 21:53:49 2004 From: stracy at davis.com (Tracy Marshall) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 21:53:49 -0700 Subject: [OldNorth] garbage Message-ID: Neighbors. I was tipped off today to a little detail in the City of Davis newsletter we got recently. Apparently our alley trash pickup will be discontinued in June, and replaced with streetside pickup with big bins that can be dumped automatically by mechanical arms on the trucks. There is no question it is better for the aching backs of the guys who heft our trash cans, but I think that will be traded for a major pain in the neck for many of us. Almost all of us have no driveway to drag the containers down to get them to the street, and no garage in the front of the house to store the cans in or near. All of that is at the back of our properties. I think we should ask the City (Public Works Department, again) to continue collecting our trash in the alleys while they work with us to solutions that reflect the design of our neighborhoods. How should we proceed, since we weren't going to conduct business at our May picnic, except for the Board elections. Steve Tracy 756-4921 From valerie at vanngroup.com Mon Apr 26 22:24:44 2004 From: valerie at vanngroup.com (Valerie Vann) Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 22:24:44 -0700 Subject: [OldNorth] Garbage & parking Message-ID: <408DEE9B.71C91399@vanngroup.com> Parking on G st.: I talked to the owner of the sign making business, who says he doesn't have much walkin biz, so the permit parking is OK with him. The other businesses mainly use parking for employees too, and they could get a visitors permit. Or perhaps the block could be signed for 1 hour without a resident or visitor permit. Also, perhaps the east side of the block could be left unrestricted. My block has many commercial landscape maintenance trucks some days, and that makes for interesting parking. Also it is difficult to get the yard trash picked up, as collection is usually around 6-7am on Mondays. The uncontainerized clippings are especially a problem, sometimes they don't get picked up for weeks, and the street cleaners hardly ever get a clear shot at the parking areas either. Garbage: This has been a concern for me ever since my block got kicked off the alley pickup (when the alley was "paved"). Unless I keep the cans on the side of the house in full view of the street, there's no place to keep them. I've been keeping them on the porch, which works OK since I have so little garbage I take the empty can down off the porch and then put in the bagged garbage. But I wouldn't have 97 gallons of garbage in a year. And I doubt I could handle that big a can if full, even with wheels. I sure couldn't keep it on my porch (my cans are currently 37gal.) Another problem: we have high curbs, and unless you put the cans in the street, the automated trucks can't pick them up. Though I have a driveway to roll it down, most people don't. And if you put them in the street, they're always in the way of parking (garbage pickup is mid-morning, when the day parkers have already arrived), and after having 3 containers destroyed by being backed into, tipped over, run over, etc. I've been putting them up on the sidewalk instead (and retrieving them immediately after the trucks come, but working folks can't do that.) In the old central area of Sacramento where they have high curbs and parking issues, you'd see the cans tipped over in the street, mashed by cars, and even out in the traffic lanes, a royal pain. Yuba City has used these auto-garbage systems for years, but they give residences a choice of three sizes of cans, down to 37 gal. And you get charged accordingly. Yuba City also supplied a third can for YARD TRASH. Do it yourselfers had to use that for yard trash, and commercial outfits had to haul their own if it exceeded the residential container. They allowed NO yard trash on the street or in the gutters. So this garbage proposal is going to be an issue for Old North, and probably for other neighborhoods with curbs and little off street parking. Sewer rate changes: Some cities charge for sewer services based on actual metered water use, which is a lot fairer than what Davis does now. I don't have 4 kids needing multiple loads of laundry a day, so why should I have to pay the same sewar rate? Valerie Vann valerie at vanngroup.com