By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The township is ready to move forward with new regulations for the disposal of yard debris.
The Township Council has two goals in making changes to the yard waste collection ordinance — preventing people from putting yard debris out for pickup too early and preventing people from putting out too much debris. The proposed amended ordinance is scheduled for introduction at the Sept. 22 meeting.
"Big, heavy logs shouldn’t be out there at all," Council President Bryan Maher said. "A homeowner or contractor should have to get rid of them. Reasonably sized, not too huge, stuff should be put out on time, not three to four weeks early. If we put this in the ordinance it should solve 90 percent of the problem."
The amended ordinance would help define what residents can put out for collection, when they can put it out, when it will be picked up and what repercussions will occur for residents who do not follow the regulations.
According to the proposed ordinance, if a resident does not put out yard waste according to the township schedule, the township will ask the resident to remove the pile within five days. If the pile is not removed within the time period, the township will issue the resident a summons and a fine of $100, according to the ordinance.
The fine system is tiered, according to the ordinance. A second offense warrants a $250 fine and a third offense warrants a $500 fine.
If the pile that has not been removed after five days and is deemed an impediment to people’s lines of sight, public works can collect the debris and bill the homeowner for the cost.
The ordinance also addresses illegal dumping of yard waste, and includes a section that violators will be charged $250 for first offenses and $500 for all other offenses.
Township officials are considering changes to the ordinance because the cost of removing yard waste from town has increased over the years.
Councilwoman Kristina Samonte said the township is no longer paying a flat rate for yard debris removal but is paying per cubic yard.
"It’s not really the size (we have to worry about), it’s the weight," she said.
Mr. Maher didn’t want to have to worry about the size of the pile but township attorney Michael Herbert said the ordinance should designate a size.
"Personally, I would like to see bigger or no pile size but that’s me," President Maher said, noting that he lives on a 2-acre property with trees.
"You need to have a definite size to go to court and enforce penalties," Mr. Herbert said.
Ms. Samonte noted that the township didn’t have a pile size before because paying a flat rate for yard debris removal didn’t warrant one.
Council Vice President Linda Geevers said the township previously budgeted $130,000 for yard debris removal but spent an extra $39,000 on transport costs including increased fuel costs due to large amount of debris people put out. Now the township will pay $5.50 cents per cubic yard, and is hoping to spend $98,000 per year, she said.
Ms. Schmid said the township spent $3,000 to clear six truckloads, or 150 cubic yards, from one zone, which takes one week to do.
"And we haven’t had a major leaf fall," Ms. Schmid said.
The township will have to make sure it communicates the new yard debris standards to residents through a letter home or the newspapers, according to Ms. Geevers.
The proposed ordinance would limit the amount of debris residents put out to 4 feet in width, 4 feet in height and 20 feet in length. Each home can have one pile of brush, and homeowners are responsible for disposing of any excess material within five days of the township collecting in a zone, according to the ordinance. Yard debris would include tree trunks and logs "that do not exceed 6 inches in width and are less than 18 inches in length."
According to Ms. Schmid, yard waste collection does not occur from November through February and leaf pickup will occur from October through December.
