City of Clear Lake set large-item drop-off dates after successful first event last fall

CLEAR LAKE — The City of Clear Lake has set the dates for large-item “drop off”. The city in September of last year announced they were no longer going to offer a semi-annual large-item curbside pickup program due to several flaws, including illegal dumping and safety concerns for city employees.

Residents last October for three days were able to bring large items to the Clear Lake Public Works yard waste site for free, with a separate opportunity for people to leave appliances and TVs curbside on a different date, with people needing to purchase a $15 appliance sticker at City Hall ahead of time.

The city’s public works director Jeremy Korenberg says after the success of last fall, they plan to keep things the same for this spring.  “I think we kind of came to the conclusion that we’re going to keep things as-is. It was a successful event, and then we just set the dates for that as well. We’re looking at the same setup of a Thursday-Friday-Saturday, so April 24th is a Thursday, starting at 8:00 AM and going to 7:00 PM, then Friday 8:00-to-5:00, and then Saturday from 8:00-to-1:00. We’ll then do the curbside appliance pickup that Tuesday beforehand.”

Korenberg says he feels the response from citizens as well as the employees of the public works department to the new approach was positive.  “Guys loved it. I think one of them mentioned overall it’s a pretty good event, especially doing it this way is that their interaction with the residents was much more positive in this setting. They got to interact with citizens upfront and face-to-face, not just from a vehicle like we usually are. Like I said, overall, a really good event, and I think positive.”

If you have any questions about the large-item pickup event on April 24th, 25th and 26th, you can call the city’s Public Works Department at 357-6135.