8/21/2019 City wide clean-up on pace for record year - News - Boone News-Republican - Boone, IA

City wide clean-up on pace for record year

By Michael Murrell Editorial Intern
Posted Jun 16, 2019 at 12:01 AM

The city held the 14th annual City Wide Clean-Up this month where Boone
residents could set things on the curb for the city to take to the landfill for them.

The event, which is for residential use only, is designed to assist owners in
hauling away items such as TVs and furniture that are not normally at the curb
for a weekly garbage pickup.

John Rouse, Parks/Public Works Director, who is in charge of the clean-up

stated that 13 employees collected a record 118.31 tons of unwanted items in
2018 which was then dropped off at the landfill.

The event required roughly a thousand man hours over the two weeks said
Rouse.

Since the program began in 2006, the city collected over 800 tons of unwanted
items from each clean-up held every June.

The city partners with the county landfill by offering the city its first 65 tons for
free each year.

“The landfill really helps us out by giving us that 65 tons for free,” said City
Administrator William Skare.

In 2016, when the city collected just over 108 tons, Boone needed to pay the
landfill $1,340 for the additional weight, which comes out of the public works
budget according to Rouse.

This year the city had collected 84.5 tons as of Friday, June 7th, with the program
ending Friday June 14th.

That puts the city on track to exceed last year’s record total of 118 tons collected
by the clean-up crew.

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8/21/2019 City wide clean-up on pace for record year - News - Boone News-Republican - Boone, IA

The city charged $25 per appliance being picked up at residents and you needed
to schedule an appointment with the Boone City Parks & Public Works
Department.

If any unwanted appliances were not picked up the city is hosting an appliance
drop off through H & W Recycling at 1410 8th Street in Boone from 8:00 a.m. to
Noon, Saturday June 15.

Most appliances will be accepted free of charge except for TV’s and monitors
which H & W Recycling charges for.

The program was started by John Slight in his first term as a mayor back in 2006
following the spirit of the city’s Nuisance Abatement Programs goal to make
Boone look as beautiful as possible.

“Because a lot of people take pride in their properties,” said Mayor John Slight.
“We do our best to make the community look good, and it can help with the
economic development we are trying to do when the community looks nice.”

Slight knows how important it is to the Boone residents that their town looks
nice.

“We take a lot of pride in making sure the community looks good,” Slight said.

For more information about the event you can call the Boone City Parks &
Public Works Department at 515-432-4211 ext. 1129 or visit the city’s website
www.boonegov.com.

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