Here is the text of today’s Tribune-Star article about the upcoming Trash Can Ordinance vote.

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Published: April 05, 2007 11:50 pm

City Council to vote on requiring garbage cans for trash

By Crystal Garcia
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE - Terre Haute resident Pam Hacquet can’t help but notice the occasional litter drifting in the wind along Margaret Avenue while on her way to work.

While some of it comes from people polluting, she believes that some of it also comes from garbage bags left for trash pickup.

A new city ordinance could change that.

The City Council will debate a change to city code to require residents to put all trash into garbage containers with lids. Current law allows for garbage bags to be placed out the night before they are picked up by trash collectors and hauled away.

“I think it would be very, very good not only just environmentally, but for the scenic view,” Hacquet said of the proposal. “Who wants to drive down a road and see somebody’s trash littered or blowing all over the place?”

Councilman Todd Nation, D-4th, introduced the legislation after researching issues related to the annual crow roost.

Last year, Terre Haute officials openly discussed the possibility of poisoning crows to deter them from roosting in Terre Haute, to which Nation publicly voiced concerns.

He believes the law will help prevent crows and stray animals from tearing open garbage bags for food, and help alleviate the litter problem in the city.

“Terre Haute has had a problem with blowing trash, with getting trash into the right containers and having it removed by our city contractor,” Nation said, “and all I’m doing with this is trying to tighten up the code in a way that helps.”

The councilman discussed the issue with various segments of city government, including the legal department. He said that he discussed the issue with Marty Dooley, supervisor of the Environmental Protection Division of the Police Department, which issues citations for a variety of code violations, including garbage.

Dooley hopes that a grace period will be given so that people can buy the needed garbage receptacles, since “Terre Haute’s a big city, and there’s a lot of people who don’t have cans right now … ,” he said.

“It can be enforced,” Dooley said of the change, but “it’s going to be hard to enforce.”

Nation said that the city’s legal department encouraged him to go ahead with the proposed ordinance revision, which Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke supports.

The City Council did not speak about the ordinance much during its “sunshine” meeting Tuesday, although council members will have the chance to discuss the ordinance before voting on it during the council’s business meeting Thursday.

The ordinance will not affect raked leaves left for trash pickup, since they are not garbage, Nation said.

Terre Haute resident Cheri Hancock supports the ordinance. While she believes it will help address the annual crow roost in Terre Haute, she added that city officials should research a way to help low-income residents afford trash containers.

Burke said that talks with the city’s trash contractor about providing all city residents with the same kind of garbage containers “have gone on for over three years now,” with no agreement yet.

Tribune-Star reporter Crystal Garcia contributed to this report. She can be reached at (812) 231-4271.