District 14 Virtual Town Hall -DPW
We had a great discussion with Director of the Department of Public Works Jason Mitchell who brought the entire leadership team of DPW with him, including the Chief of Water/Waste Water Yosef Kebede, Assistant Bureau Head for Solid Waste Kristen Oldendorf, and so many others. Here is the full video on FB Live, and here is the full video on You Tube.
Director Mitchell introduced himself by explaining he is from Oakland California and has moved to West Baltimore. His background is in public works agency management and zero waste, leading Oakland in that endeavor.
We had a conversation about the following items and residents asked questions in the Zoom and FB Live chat:
New Bulk Trash program - residents must call 311 for an appointment to get their bulk trash removed on a Saturday. Residents cannot use the online system. When calling the 311 operator, that person will confirm the Saturday by which the Bulk trash is coming. They do one sector per Saturday. Also, only three items are going to be picked up, including one “white good” which is like a refrigerator or kitchen appliance. Tell the operator that you have the white good, because there are separate trucks for that.
Increasing reports of trash not picked up properly: This is due to the turnover and the lack of sanitation staff. Training is being done and there is more to come. They are hiring to try to address the backlog. Residents should continue to call 311 when they see problems.
Recycling - new carts coming to areas that do not recycle a lot first. In District 14, that is Coldstream Homestead Montebello and Darley Park with a little bit of Harwood. Residents will get postcards first before they receive their cart. they can choose a smaller cart or they will get the one that is the same size as the trash can, and it will be blue. Residents will be given instructions on what goes inside the blue cans. There will not be enforcement if you use the can as a trash can, but you must use this as a recycling can otherwise the trash will not be picked up. Recycling goes to a company call World Recycling and they handle it from there.
Education - DPW is focused right now on education related to the recycling cans, not the entire need to educate people about not littering. More to come here.
Water - More people are getting their water bill disputes taken care of, which has been good, and DPW claims the backlogs are finally going down as a result of the “smart” meter mess ups. They continue to work on this (and we’ll have hearings about it). The relationship between Baltimore City and County when it comes to water is still being evaluated. But we see our water bills differently - we get ours monthly and they get theirs without the sewer fees. Their sewer fees are in their tax bills. There is a reconciling each fiscal year to make sure the County is paying it’s share. Questions remain however, since this has not occurred yet this year.
Pollution - recent pollutants in the Stony Run and other rivers and streams that run through our City was caught not only by Blue Water Baltimore, but also the City’s alarm systems. More investigation is needed.