Somerset city Spring Cleanup takes place next week

Apr. 11—Sweep your cares away — or at least your unwanted stuff — as the City of Somerset will be holding its annual Spring Clean-Up next week, April 15 through 19.

The service is available only to those within the Somerset city limits who are residential garbage customers, but for those people it's a chance to get rid of around a pickup truck's worth of uselessness.

That includes furniture, appliances, and anything taking up space in the shed.

It does not apply to hazardous materials, however, meaning workers will not pick up tires, gas, oil, paint, batteries or propane tanks.

Items must be set out in the resident's normal garbage pickup area — so on the curb, and not in the roadway, said Angie Turpin, Sanitation Department administrative assistant.

She added that folks need to set everything out on the day of their normal trash pickup, or, at least know that their pile of stuff won't be picked up until their normal garbage day.

This is different than from years past, when the department used to pick up items on different sides of the city anytime through a one-week period.

That means that if anyone misses the spring cleanup or forgets to put out an item or two, they will have another chance to get rid of it in October.

More recently, the city has switched to having two separate cleanups, one in the spring and one in the fall. All residences will be served during both cleanups.

Because sanitation workers will be spending next week picking up larger amounts of trash from many homes, Turpin warned customers that routes may take longer to run each day, and, therefore, crews might be later turning up than normal.

She also asked those driving through Somerset next week to be aware of the cleanup, and to watch out for both sanitation trucks and crews.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com