Annual spring cleanup will be drop-off only this year

The annual spring cleanup in the area will be different this year due to not having curbside pickup from the cities, as well as there being a charge to dump the yard waste you haul yourself. 

The Regional Board of Mayors on Monday set April 3-10 as the week for spring cleanup when people can bring their yard waste to the Delano Regional Transfer Station, but this year there will be a charge.

A pickup load of 2.5 cubic yards, which is a standard size pickup bed filled level with the sides of the bed, will cost $5.25 per load, including tax. Any loads larger than that will cost $10.50 including tax, which is still cheaper than the $15 minimum usually charged at the station.

Randy Gumm, who manages the transfer station in Delano, said he and his crew can determine the size of a pickup load quickly based on the size of the truck and other factors.

The group discussed coming up with an appropriate diagram for an advertisement that would help illustrate the concept of cubic yards.

In the past, the landfill in Ephrata, where the waste is taken, allowed for free dumping of yard waste tonnage during cleanup week, but changes there won’t allow that anymore. 

At the RBOM meeting, Electric City Mayor Diane Kohout explained that in talking with county employees there is confusion as to how it had ever been free in the past.

Grant County Public Works Director Sam Castro, in an email exchange with Kohout, said that “there may have been a grant in the past that covered the costs previously,” but that otherwise “gifting” government funds was a crime.

Kohout is working on applying for a Department of Ecology grant that would help cover any costs in transporting and dumping the yard waste that isn’t covered by the fees.

Prior to approving the details, Grand Coulee Mayor Paul Townsend said that “free cleanup going away isn’t our choice,” and that “things get more expensive,” adding that they don’t have any other direction to go but to charge fees.