Councilman Claude Mattox's Monthly Newsletter Column April 2008
It's July 14. Do you know what day your garbage is collected?
There's a major citywide event this summer that will affect 275,000 Phoenix households. The city is changing garbage collection days! This will be one of the biggest scheduling challenges in the city's history. It's all being done to better serve our residents. And it all starts the week of July 14. Here's the story.
The city is converting an existing facility into a new service center to accommodate growth. Currently, the city is divided into three regions - north, east, and west - each with a service facility to garage and maintain hundreds of collection vehicles. Each morning, trucks leave these facilities to begin the collection of garbage and recyclables on thousands of miles of residential streets. As the city has grown, the burden on each of these regions has become disproportionate. All have increased the number of homes served.
To even out the burden and prepare for future growth, a fourth service region is being added. All the regions will gain and lose some territory and trucks will be reassigned to even out collection duties.
What does this mean to you? In June and early July, residents will receive mailings to alert of the coming change. The final mailing will provide the specific change for your household. Your garbage and recycling collection days may change, or your days will remain the same but the commodities may switch. Garbage day now becomes recycling day!
For some residents there will be no change. But even these residents need to know that the time of day garbage is collected may be different. Collection schedules are so predictable that many residents put out their collection barrels minutes before the truck arrives. Be prepared! The time of day barrels are collected is also changing! That's why it's so important that collection barrels always be placed out before 5:30 a.m. on collection day.
Ready for the Big Switch? Staff from the Public Works Department are ready to help. Call 602-262-7251 or e-mail pwserve@phoenix.gov. And watch your mail to assure a smooth transition on July 14.
If you have questions or comments about this or any other topic or issue, call Councilman Mattox’s office at 602-262-7446 or send an e-mail to council.district.5@phoenix.gov.