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TOWN OF JOHNSTOWN — During its last meeting of the year on Monday, the Johnstown Town Board looked ahead to next spring and the possibility of holding a townwide cleanup day.
Town Board member Tim Rizzo initially raised the issue of having a town-sponsored and organized cleanup day during the board’s November meeting. He pitched the idea as a proactive means of helping residents cleanup blight on their properties, rather than tasking the town’s code enforcer with issuing tickets and fines.
He argued that one reason why blight may accumulate on some properties could simply be that residents are embarrassed that they don’t have dump stickers. He said letting them use dumpsters behind town hall for a town cleanup day could help solve the problem.
“We raised this last meeting, about cleaning up the town, and I don’t want that to get lost in the mix going forward,” Rizzo said at Monday’s meeting.
Town Board member Joel Wilson, who previously worked at Fulton County’s landfill, said the board should first contact Fulton County Department of Solid Waste Director David Rhodes to determine not only what the rules should be for the cleanup day, but also the costs involved.
“On average, from what other municipalities do, you’re going to need two guys, two loaders, plus a ground guy checking residency, and what you can or cannot bring,” Joel Wilson said.
Joel Wilson said one ground rule the town should consider setting is a maximum of four tires per resident to limit costs.
“That’s a cost to us, they’ll bring a box out for electronics; that’s a freebie, and then you pay for the tonnage,” Joel Wilson said.
While Town Supervisor Jack Wilson said he thinks a town cleanup day is something the town has never done before to his knowledge, he thinks the concept is a good idea.
“We could probably put a couple of dumpsters behind the Town Highway Garage,” Jack Wilson said.
Town Board member Joel Wilson said he doubts a couple of dumpsters would be enough.
“Well, in not having ever done one, I would probably suggest we have six or eight to work with,” Joel Wilson said.
Rizzo said another element of the town cleanup day should be creating either a town newsletter or possibly an advertisement in the local newspaper announcing the event, its rules and how people should participate.
While the consensus of the town board agreed to continue planning for a town cleanup day in 2023, no official motion has been passed yet to establish a date for it.
