WORCESTER – City Manager Ed Augustus submitted a recommended plan for the 2021 Clean City Plan to City Council on Wednesday, May 12, that includes new litter patrol personnel, newly designed dome vented recycling bins and an increased city trash bag fee.
The plan, written by Commissioner of Public Works and Parks Jay Finke, calls for the distribution of a newly designed recycling bin with a vented dome to be distributed to residents starting in January 2022. It also calls for one free bin per household/ apartment.
The proposal also calls for an increase of 25 cents in the fee for each city trash bag, both large and small. A sleeve of five large bags would be $8.75 while a sleeve of 10 small bags would be $10 under the plan.
The plan projects additional revenue of $515,000 over the first six months of 2022 and $1.03 million over fiscal year 2022.
Finke’s plan also includes hiring four additional personnel within the Department of Public Works and Parks [DPW], The new personnel, in two teams of two, would focus on litter and debris removal within the rights of way throughout the city. Rotating routes for the litter patrol teams would cross the entire city.
The plan also creates the Worcester Green Corps program to formally establishing a year-round effort to involve the City’s businesses and nonprofit groups help keep Worcester Clean. The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce would lead business outreach while the United Way of Central Massachusetts would do the same to the non-profit community.
MassHire and the Worcester Community Action Council have committed 25 YouthWorks students to the program for the summer with five newly hired site managers to lead teams.
A preliminary budget of $260,000 for the program would require $75,000 from the City from block grant funding.
Other aspects of the 2021 Clean City Plan includes
- Expanded hours at the Millbury St. recycling facility
- A continued partnership with the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District and its ambassador service
- A $5,000 incentive, per district, to organize neighborhood cleanup initiatives
- A city-wide, multi-lingual public education campaign about curbside recycling and collection, recycling contamination reduction, litter prevention and other topics
Image Courtesy of City of Worcester
