ANTI-LITTER TASK FORCE
MEETING MINUTES
2/7/06

ATTENDING: Mayor Richard Moccia, Councilman Fred Bondi, Parks Director Michael Mocciae, DPW Waste Programs Manager Laura Panciera, Health Department Chief environmental Officer Tom Closter, Board of Realtors member Kate Johnson, Deputy Police Chief Mark Palmer, DPW Director Hal Alvord, SoNo Business member Bruce Gall, Neighborhood Improvement Coordinator David Shockley, Chairman, and Tree Alliance member Don Nelson.

The meeting began at 10:05 in room 231 at City Hall.

Mr. Shockley welcomed everyone and suggested that each person introduce themselves to acquaint new participants to the committee.

Mr. Shockley provided a review of the Anti-Litter Task Force goals and accomplishments attained in 2005. Some of the following information was taken from a Mayor’s press release issued in October 2004.

“Cleaning up Norwalk’s physical appearance and eradicating litter from our neighborhoods will require new ordinances, new relationships with businesses, new partnerships with Norwalk’s neighborhood associations, a new management approach to city services and a new commitment by citizens to make our City shine.”

The following steps were outlined as a means to accomplish this.

1) Establish the Anti-Litter Task Force to oversee implementation, review the efforts of other municipalities and recommend reforms as a means of involving all areas and groups in this effort, including neighborhood associations, realtors, businesses, PTO’s and other groups.
2) Review and propose reforms to existing ordinances and regulations concerning litter and trash collection, such as: requiring the use of hard trash containers in commercial areas; raising the volume of materials residents can deliver to the transfer station without an additional fee; expanding the types of materials accepted at the transfer station to provide a practical functional alternative to illegal roadside dumping; and strengthening enforcement penalties;
3) Provide direct staff support by creating the position of Neighborhood Improvement Coordinator for this anti-litter initiative and continue to coordinate neighborhood clean-ups;
4) Identify and map city areas needing more focused attention to trash, debris or graffiti “hot-spots”;
5) Clean-up municipal parking lots, such as Haviland Deck, Webster Street and Isaac Street, by taking such steps as: developing and implementing a new model of shared public/private arrangements with restaurants adjacent to the lots that use trash compactors and/or dumpsters for the disposal of food and other garbage.
6) Expand the number of wastebaskets and trash receptacles in Wall Street, SoNo, Calf Pasture Beach and other “hot spot” areas for litter by exploring arrangements offered at no cost to the city by companies such as ReceptaSign that install state-of-the-art downtown trash receptacles paid for by advertising on each wastebasket;
7) Utilize existing public awareness and promotional programs such as Keep America Beautiful or Take Pride In America (sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior);
8) Develop a partnership with the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations to implement a regular schedule of bulky waste neighborhood clean-ups and implement new city-wide clean-up days for Norwalk’s “common areas,”
9) Work with business associations, such as the SoNo Business Association and the Wall Street Property Owners group to identify best business practices to prevent littering, such as reducing the use of commercial handbills and forming business improvement districts under state law to provide additional trash collections.

Regarding the 2005 City wide litter cleanup day, the committee established subcommittees to address Neighborhood Outreach, Business Outreach, and Public Awareness. The City Wide cleanup event took place on April 30, 2005 and despite the rain was a big success. More than 40 neighborhood associations, civic groups, and schools provided approximately 415 volunteers to conduct the labors of picking up trash and beautifying existing public gardens.

Hal Alvord then provided an overview of the current and improved litter and solid waste ordinances. He stated that the previous process of placing garbage on the curb in plastic bags was inefficient and that the new ordinances mandate that garbage for pickup be placed in a closed lid container. Handbills have been banned and steps have been taken to track down any current violators.

Mr. Alvord stated that the level area of enforcement for the new ordinances needs to be enhanced. DPW has special constables designated to enforce traffic issues, but not for litter and garbage infractions. A discussion took place and it was noted that the Mayor has the authority to expand the constable’s enforcement capabilities to include garbage & dumping under the “special duties” clause. Mayor Moccia cautioned that if such a measure were to be undertaken, specific training must be implemented to insure that the enforcement measures are administered appropriately.

Mark Palmer stated that the combined effort of the Police, DPW and Health Department employees going out into the community together to educate those who are not in compliance has proven very effective. He plans to begin this process again in the spring.

The chairman spoke about the need for adding more trash receptacles in various areas of the City. The history of the activities with ReceptaSign Company was presented as this company approached the City over a year ago with an offer to place a significant number of advertising trash receptacles throughout the City. Unfortunately the ReceptaSign Company did not respond to the RFP initiated by the Purchasing Department last year. Only one vendor did, and it was felt that their receptacle was not aesthetically in keeping with this City.

Mayor Moccia stated that he will consult with the Purchasing Department to ascertain if any adjustments can be made to the RFP which may entice ReceptaSign, or a similar vendor to contract with the City to provide advertising trash receptacles at no cost to the City. Mr. Shockley indicated that he had recently placed a phone call to the ReceptaSign Company; however they have yet to respond.

Bruce Gall spoke about some of the concerns of the Washington Street Business district, primarily the restaurant grease disposal procedures. Tom Closter informed the committee that the State of Connecticut provides the guidelines for the local health department to follow, and that disposal of grease and garbage are rated low on their score sheet. He added that DEP set forth new regulations for restaurants requiring a 1,000 gallon storage container to be used for grease. Current grease disposal vendors are the Darling Company and the Western Mass. Company.

Bruce Gall stated that restaurant grease disposal in South North Norwalk is a problem and that landlords of the buildings should absorb some of this burden. There has been an ongoing battle between condos and the business owners with the garbage and grease disposal issue.

The idea of implementing a Special Services tax to cover these expenses was discussed. It was noted that Stamford has successfully implemented such a program which has remedied the garbage, grease, and litter concerns as well as added additional security personnel to the business district. A discussion took place as to the difficulty of implementing this in South Norwalk primarily because the SoNo Business area has a number of condominiums with different needs and interests.

Laura Panciera stated that she has been distributing letters to area businesses, particularly in the Wall Street area, regarding the new garbage disposal ordinances. It was suggested that a press release be issued detailing the requirements of using lidded hard containers and noting that non compliance will result the imposition of monetary fines.

The committee agreed that it would be helpful to add addition business association members to the Anti-Litter Task Force. Mr. Shockley will extend this invitation to several members of the Wall Street, East Norwalk, and SoNo Business Associations, as well as the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce news letter was also felt to be a helpful media to inform business owners of ordinance changes.

Mr. Shockley reported that neighborhood bulky waste community involved cleanups will continue this spring. The City Wide litter cleanup day will be most probably broken into two Saturdays this spring. The organization of these events will be coordinated with the assistance of the Coalition of Norwalk Neighborhood Associations.

Mr. Nelson inquired as to the progress with graffiti abatement within the city. Mr. Shockley stated that the AIC Program is continuing to remove graffiti as weather conditions permit. A supply budget was submitted to the City to sustain this effort during 2006. Deputy Chief Palmer indicated that the AIC Program has been responsive to the graffiti complaints the police have provided to them. Mr. Shockley indicated that he will be meeting with the AIC director soon to ensure that the Graffiti Abatement Program needs are met.

It was decided that the Anti-Litter meetings would best work by meeting every other month with the next meeting to be in April at a date and time to be determined.

The meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.

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