Benton County cleanup set

BENTONVILLE -- Benton County residents can take advantage of the county's spring cleanup April 18 to rid themselves of a variety of unwanted items.

The event started in 2006.

County Cleanup

Benton County’s annual Spring Cleanup events will be held from 8 a.m. to noon April 18. County residents can drop off a range of household materials at Road Department locations in Bentonville, Garfield and Decatur. More information about the event and the materials accepted can be found at www.bccleanup.org.

Source: Staff Report

Teresa Sidwell, environmental coordinator, said most of the cleanup will be familiar to people who have used the service in the past but there will be some new features.

"One thing that's different is Johnson Controls is going to be collecting batteries," Sidwell said. "They're going to collect car batteries. We collect all kinds of batteries at the event and they're all going to be recycled."

The county is working with the Keep America Beautiful campaign to collect cell phones, another new feature, Sidwell said.

The cleanup is well supplied with volunteers this year from a number of nonprofit organizations including the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership Foundation, the Teen Action & Support Center, Habitat for Humanity and others. One group, Youth Strategies of Springdale, will collect bicycles at the event as part of a community service program, Sidwell said.

"It doesn't matter if it's broken or if it's brand new," she said. "They'll rebuild them and give them back to someone in the community."

John Sudduth, general services administrator, said the county has worked to streamline the event and shorten the time people spend waiting to drop off items. The county tries to gather ZIP code information from those who discard material to track the pattern of use. That step has moved that from the entrance to the exit at the three dropoff locations. The path through the dropoff locations also has been better defined to speed up the process, Sudduth said. People may avoid waiting in line by delaying their arrival, he said.

"Our hours of operations are normally 8 a.m to noon," Sudduth said. "Some people will get there at a quarter to 6. We do not open the gates that early because it's hard to get staffing at that hour."

Joel Jones, justice of the peace for District 7, is a regular volunteer at the cleanups. The Quorum Court was briefed earlier this year on the increasing costs of the cleanups held in the spring and fall. Questions about the future of the program were raised. The county's Public Safety Committee will discuss the problem leading up to the county's budget process in the fall, Jones said.

"There definitely will be a discussion," Jones said. "That's a decision all the JPs need to be aware of. A lot of people participate in the cleanup and look forward to it."

Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards also works as a volunteer at the cleanups. It's a worthwhile program but the county and the cities need to do more to make county residents aware of the convenience center at the Benton County Solid Waste District's location in Centerton, Edwards said.

The convenience center accepts the same materials residents dispose of at the cleanups and it is open most Saturdays throughout the year. Edwards suggested having information about the convenience center in a handout for the people who come to the cleanups.

"It's there and it needs to be utilized more," he said.

NW News on 04/04/2015

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