A rumbling diesel truck pulls up to the curb, the air brakes squeal, the sound of trash bins being hoisted and their contents compacted. How early is too early for this weekly necessity?
After some discussion that included references to numerous complaints about haulers collecting trash as early as 3 a.m., a village trustee will be contacting garbage haulers that serve customers in the village to request they pick up trash later.
Jeannine Mayer, who has been a trustee for four years, said when she first came on the board she tried to get haulers to move back their pickup times. “I was basically told they didn’t want us to interfere with their business.”
Trustees have been told in the past that haulers begin their pickups early because they need to get the trash to transfer stations or landfills that close at 2:30 p.m.
Several trustees said the city of Kingston has no problem with trash haulers starting their runs too early in the day, but they added that those doing the pickup work for the city are not independent haulers as are the ones that serve Saugerties.
Trustee Vince Buono wondered if trustees wanted to pass a law that would restrict pickups to match the village’s noise ordinance, which would be after 7 a.m.
Trustee Donald Hackett, who said he has received a number of complaints, agreed. “We should tell them to start their pickups after 7 a.m.,” he said.
Opinion was not unanimous.
Mayor William Murphy said if trustees did that then it would just move the problem to a different community where haulers would begin at the early hour.
“It’s just part of living in the village,” said trustee Terry Parisian. “It’s important they pick up the garbage before businesses open and before school buses are on the road.”
Buono volunteered to make calls to the haulers to find out if it was possible they could come a little later.