By Mike Harris
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
July 14 is the deadline for applying for Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council’s free green waste pickup program for the month of July.
The free program currently only applies to Rim communities, and is only for leaves, weeds, grasses, pine needles and pine cones. Pickup is limited to 20 bags and the bags must be tied closed at the top and placed along a road or an area allowing the crew to safely access them from the road.
“Yes, it is a free service to property owners in the area Burrtec is not serving. It is not pickup as a part of regular trash. It has to do with state legislation and state regulation,” said Laura Dyberg, president and CEO of the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council.
Because of state law mandates, green waste can no longer be put in the regular trash that Burrtec (Mountain Disposal) picks up for property owners who subscribe to their trash service. Burrtec is charging a monthly fee for those wanting to have their green waste picked up once a month.
The green waste pickup program through the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council will be offered monthly through September.
Why is the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council involved?
“Our goal is to give the people who want to do the work a way to do it for free,” Dyberg said.
The money for the free pickup program is coming from a grant from Cal Fire.
“The money is coming from Cal Fire’s California Climate Investments Fire Prevention grant program,” she added.
In order to determine if the property owner or homeowner qualifies for the program, there is a form to fill out. All questions must be answered. You can find the form by going to the Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council website at www.firesafenow.org/ and clicking on the Programs & Services menu and then clicking on the Green Waste Pick Up Form link. It may take up to three days for a response.
Property owners must re-apply each month until the program concludes.
Items not accepted in the program include root balls, limbs, construction lumber, painted or preserved wood, trash, material containing rocks, dirt, metal, nails, screws, fasteners, wire or twine.
The grant basically is a reimbursement program for the property owner’s labor or cost to hire someone to prepare the green waste and place it inside black bags which then must be tied at the top. The reimbursement program reimburses at $33 per hour.
“We will continue program as long as we have funding and as long as it’s safe,” Dyberg added.
“We also want to thank 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Rowe and Burrtec for their help with this,” she said.
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