It’s time to spring clean.
The City of Port Coquitlam is already on the ground — a day ahead of the season change — to sweep parks, trails, lanes, dead ends and streets of trash.
This morning, March 18, public works employees in the parks, street and solid waste divisions slipped on orange vests and sun hats to tackle the downtown as part of the city’s biannual litter blitz.
Tomorrow, March 19, the teams will be on the northern side while, on March 20, staff will hit the city’s southern side.
Graffiti will also be wiped off, and street sweepers will move into each area at night.
Public works manager Dave Kidd told the Tri-City News that 17 employees are out, walking in pairs with buckets, pickers and city trucks to haul away abandoned garbage, like furniture, electronic devices and appliances, and handle illegal dumping.
He said the most common items they find are cigarette butts and potato chip bags; however, on previous occasions, they’ve also pulled out items like needles, elliptical machines and couches.
“We’re doing this to support council’s focus of getting the basics right, by providing a safe and clean city for our residents,” Kidd said.
“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the community about the overall condition of the city. People are pleased with the results.”
Kidd said other Metro Vancouver municipalities have taken note of PoCo’s litter campaigns, which also happen in the fall.
There is no extra cost to taxpayers for the litter clean-ups, a city spokesperson said, and volunteers do not take part.
Meanwhile, the city plans to do two more public works blitzes: Next week, staff will fill in potholes while, in April, there will be a massive vegetation planting around civic sites.
PoCo residents wanting to notify the city about abandoned garbage and illegal dumping can call 604-927-3111 or visit the city website: portcoquitlam.ca/report
