Less than three weeks after Enterprise City Council approved an emergency declaration to clean up debris along the city’s rights-of-way, the City of Enterprise is back on schedule for debris collection.

DRC Emergency Services was contracted to work with City of Enterprise Public Works after a string of challenges including inclement weather created an overwhelming amount of debris throughout the city. Nearly twice the usual amount of bulk roadside debris was collected for the month of July.  In comparison, from January through June, an average of 272 tons were collected.  In July alone, 527 tons of bulk roadside debris were collected. 

“Without that declaration, it would have taken months, if we would have ever caught up,” City Administrator Jonathan Tullos told City Council members during the Aug. 1 meeting. “Our Mayor and City Council approved the resources to allow this cleanup to happen and we appreciate the citizens’ patience as we worked to solve this issue. We hope the community has noticed.”

Due to the extenuating circumstances, Mayor William E. Cooper instructed crews to clear all debris from the side of the road, regardless of size or material.  Crews collected not only tree limbs and other storm waste, but also household garbage, furniture, car parts, and appliances.  In total, more than 420 loads were taken to the Coffee County landfill.

“As soon as we were driving off, we saw people still dragging new stuff to the street. We picked it up, regardless of the size, as long as it was not hazardous,” City Engineer and Director of Public Works Barry Mott said. “Under Mayor Cooper’s direction, we cleaned up the city, but we ask that moving forward, citizens adhere to the city’s garbage collection policies of what the city does and does not pick up.”

The City of Enterprise operates a grinding site for its citizens, which only collects organic materials. Tree limbs no larger than 6” in diameter and 6’ in length are accepted.  These items may be placed on the curb for pick up or taken to the grinding site free of charge with proper documentation. Bulk items, such as furniture and appliances, are taken to the county landfill for disposal.

The city will not pick up construction debris like dry wall, concrete, rock, flooring, carpet, cabinets, doors or home renovation materials.  Citizens who hire contractors for work on their property shall work with the contractors to have those items removed.

“I am proud to see the work of Shannon Roberts, Derrick Hooks and the rest of the Public Works team along with the contractor have put in to get our city back to what our citizens have come to know and expect when it comes to trash pickup,” Mayor William E. Cooper said. “These folks have worked a lot of hours to get our sanitation schedule back on track and we appreciate their efforts.”

Mott said city crews worked 12-hour days and weekends to get the debris removed.

“Our team helped make this process as systemized as possible. Crews rode ahead of the trucks to create fewer, bigger piles to maximize the stops.  We did all we could to clean up the city as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Council provided the additional funding of taxpayer dollars for this project, and we wanted to be good stewards of those funds.”

Residents are reminded to have their garbage cans and debris on the curb by 7 a.m. on collection day.  All items should be placed on the grass, along the curb, and not in the roadway to prevent run off into the storm sewer system.