FOLEY - The Public Works Department of the City of Foley is pushing for some changes that may soon be coming to the city’s sanitation laws.

“We need to update the sanitation ordinance, for multiple reasons,” said Leslie Gahagan, Foley’s Environmental Manager. “One of the things we didn’t have in there was good enforcement capabilities, people not paying fees, and we needed to up some of the larger special pickup fees.”

The current pickup fees are well below the normal cost for larger loads, and it’s causing the Public Works Department to struggle to keep up with entire yards needing to be cleared. Contractor generated yard waste may also be removed from the list of approved pickups by the city.

“That’s a huge problem for them,” Gahagan continued. “Then we’re moving to no longer pick up plastic bags with yard waste, because they can’t mulch the materials that were put in our yard waste in the past, so that’s been a huge problem.”

Once yard waste is put into plastic bags, it becomes contaminated material, and because of this the city is unable to use the leaves and straw for mulch and instead must dispose of it.

When asked why so many people bag yard waste, Darrell Russell, Public Works Superintendent, had this to say: “I think it was done in the 90s. People would just bag it, and it’s just been going on and on and on.”

“I think what happens is some people don’t have a designated pickup spot,” said councilman Charlie Ebert, III. “And when the machine picks up, sometimes it damages some grass in the area, so they bag it to prevent that. But then Public Works picks it up and throws it in the truck, but it’s contaminated waste that we now have to deal with.”

Once the new ordinance is in place, the City of Foley may no longer be picking up any yard waste that is left on the roadside if it is in a plastic bag. This causes potential problems for those on both sides, as many people prefer to bag their yard debris in order to keep it together and in one spot, and to protect their lawn. From the Public Works standpoint, anything placed into a plastic bag becomes contaminated, can cause damage to their equipment, and becomes something that they must now dispose of instead of being able to mulch.

Ebert’s solution is one that the Public Works Department agrees will both allow people to continue to bag yard waste to make it more manageable, and keep it from becoming contaminated.

“There are new biodegradable bags,” Ebert said. “They’re available at Lowes and Home Depot. It’s more of a brown bag, a brown paper bag. So you can still bag it; that helps protect your lawn, it keeps the leaves from blowing around, but it’s a biodegradable bag that is readily available.”

Another issue happening in some areas is yard waste being left for pickup either in a ditch or on the sidewalk.

“That’s another thing that’s been brought to my attention,” said Russell. “That did happen in the 90s. People were instructed to put yard waste in the ditch to keep it off the road.”

While from a drainage standpoint it is better for yard waste to be on a bike or walking path, that can cause potential hazards to those who are using the paths as they were intended. From a drainage standpoint, any yard waste left in a ditch can lead to potential flooding, so Foley is hoping to eliminate both circumstances from happening. It’s also easier for yard waste to be collected by Public Works if it is on a flat surface, another problem with anything being left in a ditch.

Foley Public Works and the Environmental Department are currently working on updating the sanitation ordinance, with changes being released to the public soon.