[StBernard] Trash service starts in St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Trash service starts in St. Bernard
Curbside collection will be twice per week 
Thursday, September 28, 2006
St. Bernard/

In what parish officials hope is another sign of normalcy returning to St.
Bernard Parish, twice-a-week residential and commercial garbage pickup will
begin next week. 

SDT LLC recently won the bid to handle the collection, parish Chief
Administrative Officer Dave Peralta said. The cost to the parish is $20 per
household per month, he said. 

Parish residents are not charged directly for garbage pickup. 

Peralta said trucks will hit the streets and pick up garbage "from whoever
has garbage out on the street." 

Estimates of the number of residents who have returned to the parish range
from 16,000 to 22,000. The parish's pre-Hurricane Katrina population was
about 67,000. 

St. Bernard Parish Councilman Joey DiFatta estimated there are 5,000 to
7,000 households -- either houses or trailers -- in the parish. He said the
garbage contractor and the parish will monitor the number of homes where
garbage is collected to determine the parish's monthly bill. 

Beginning Monday, garbage routes will run as follows: 

-- Monday and Thursday pickup from the parish line in Arabi to Paris Road. 

-- Tuesday and Friday pickup east of Paris Road to Lexington Place
subdivision (St. Marie Street to the north of Judge Perez Drive and Webster
Street to the north of St. Bernard Highway). 

-- Wednesday and Saturday pickup will be all areas east of the Lexington
Place subdivision. 

Officials ask that the garbage be left at the curb in plastic bags or in
small cans. 

Construction debris won't be picked up with the regular garbage collection,
parish officials said. Such debris should be taken to the parish transfer
station in the 6000 block of Paris Road or to the E.J. Gore pumping station
on East Judge Perez Drive in Poydras. Both sites are open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
seven days a week. Proof of parish residency is required. 

Currently, residents who have returned to the parish have to bring their
garbage to parish collection bins placed throughout the parish. 

Although parish residents currently pay nothing for garbage collection,
finances might dictate a change at some point, DiFatta said. The parish
dedicates a half-cent sales tax and some property taxes to cover garbage
pickup, but revenue from those sources is down, he said.