Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo issued the “Stay Home, Work Safe” Order for Harris County as of March 11, 2020. As a result, residents have had a lot of extra time on their hands. They are cleaning out their yards, garages and homes.
All this cleaning is generating an enormous amount of extra trash on collection days. While Clear Brook City MUD offers heavy trash collection on the second collection day each week, amounts are far exceeding what is allowed. Trash crews on Monday, March 30, 2020, made 4 trips to the dumps to empty their trucks vs. the normal 2 trips. They remained in the District until 5 pm whereas they are normally complete and gone by 2 pm.
Clear Brook City MUD has offered this additional service to its’ residents for years. However, as with all things, there are guidelines and limits in place that residents must adhere to. These guidelines are printed in the back of the District calendar that is mailed to all residents each year. If you do not have a copy of the 2020 calendar, please call the office at 281-484-1562 and request one.
Here are some of the guidelines that we are seeing issues with.
1. Items not accepted:
- Construction Debris
- Car batteries
- Petroleum products
- Medical waste
- Closed containers
- Logs or stumps
- Solvents, paint
- Rocks, concrete
- Herbicides
- Fertilizer
- Crossties
- Soil
- Hazardous materials
- Pesticides
- Cooking Oil
2. Limits on Heavy Trash
- All debris must be within 5’ of the curb.
- Carpet and tree limbs must be no more than 4’ in length and weigh no more than 40 pounds, bundled and tied. Huge piles of carpet or tree trimmings are the responsibility of the homeowner or contractor hired to do the work.
- A maximum of 3 cubic yards is accepted.
All unacceptable items and excessive amounts will be tagged and left. Property owners, landlords and renters are responsible for the removal of this debris. Should you need to hire someone to dispose of the debris, CBC MUD’s service provider will give a price to remove oversized piles of trash. The cost MUST be paid to the trash company PRIOR to removal of the debris. This can be done via credit card over the phone.
All household bags are to be placed on the other side of the driveway – away from large piles. Crews cannot distinguish what is in black bags. Therefore, they will assume it is part of the clean out. Trash will be tagged and left. To avoid any questions on household trash, clear trash bags may be used for clear distinction.
Make sure there is a clear pathway to pick up all debris left curbside for pick up. Our contractor will NOT pick up trash that is blocked by parked vehicles, trailers, boats, etc.
Removal of trash creates community health hazards so they must be removed quickly. Piles not collected within a week will be reported to the health department.
Hazardous waste will be tagged and left. They are not eligible for private collection. Call Harris County Hazardous Waste Material at 281-560-6200 to find out where items may be taken. Hours of operation are unknown due to the ever changing COVID 19.