The information on this page describes some of the most important
aspects of the programs of the department. We are happy to serve you in any way
that we can. Born out of the
typical old New England Highway Department, the modern Public Works Department
includes: Highways and Bridges - Solid waste disposal
(garbage) - Recycling - Annual Leaf Program - Park Department - Engineering Department
- Sanitary Sewers - Storm water drainage - Street Trees (Tree Warden) - Maintenance
of Public Buildings
BULK PICKUP INFORMATION &
INSTRUCTIONS Bulk Pickup Service runs from
August 16th through October 14th, 2010 Bulk
Pickup is by appointment only Acceptable Material
should NOT be put out
until the day before the scheduled appointment Please
call (203) 452-5070 to schedule a Bulk Pickup Date ACCEPTABLE
MATERIALS: This service is for objects too big to get in your car… -
Furniture (sofas, chairs, tables, mattresses, carpets, yard furniture)
- Appliances
(dishwashers, washers, TV's , (refrigerators/freezers w/door removed), branches
in tied bundles (4' long maximum)
- Grills (w/o propane tank-bring to a propane
tank company) UNACCEPTABLE MATERIALS:
(Will NOT be picked up): - UN-TIED BRANCHES
-
VEHICLES (no automobile parts)
- EXPLOSIVES
- TREE STUMPS
- DEAD ANIMALS
- BRANCHES OR WOOD OVER 4 FEET IN LENGTH OR 6 INCHES IN DIAMETER
- TRASH
CANS
- HAZARDOUS MATERIALS: including oil based paint (there is a Town wide
Household Hazardous Waste Day every year…..watch for notices) TRANSFER
STATION MATERIAL (on Spring Hill Road) - HOUSEHOLD
GARBAGE/TRASH-no small items, not even in boxes or bags
- RECYCLABLE MATERIAL:
"Blue Bin" stuff, Corrugated cardboard, Water based paint cans -- (air
dry before recycling the can)
- DEMOLITION MATERIALS: Fee of $12.00/125 lbs-buy
tickets at Public Works Yard Office asphalt shingles, sheetrock, concrete, ceramic
tile or bathroom fixtures, plaster, brick, masonry debris
- BAGGED LEAVES,
GRASS, or other YARD WASTE
- TIRES ($2.00 per tire)
- METAL OVER 4 FEET
IN LENGTH PUBLIC WORKS YARD MATERIAL (on
Church Hill Road)
Weekdays 7:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon, 12:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. -
Motor oil, Automobile batteries, Antifreeze THANK
YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN KEEPING TRUMBULL BEAUTIFUL!!
DISPOSAL
OF WASTE MOTOR OIL, CAR BATTERIES & ANTIFREEZEWaste
motor oil, car batteries and antifreeze can be disposed of at the Highway Garage
Complex Monday through Friday between 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 12:30 p.m. to
3:00 p.m. (ID required.)
Invisible
Fencing Many Trumbull Residents are enjoying a
fairly new technology called "Invisible Fencing". These fences actually
are a wire buried in the ground that causes a sound to occur on your pet's collar. When
the pet hears the somewhat offensive sound, it is discouraged from leaving the
property. And, of course, the good news is that the property is ringed with an
invisible fence likely more inexpensive than real fence. The problem for the Town
is that invisible fences are not permitted on the road right-of-way; in fact,
no fences are permitted in the right-of-way! Generally
speaking, the road right-of-way begins about 10 feet from the edge of the road.
Said in another way, the first 10 feet of "your lawn" is actually owned
by the Town. The Town owns this right-of-way for
highway purposes. These purposes include but are not limited to the installation
of signs, a place for pedestrians to walk, and the storage of snow in the winter. By
placing an invisible fence within the 10 feet area, the Town could accidentally
sever the wire. This could allow the pet to cross into an unsafe area. The wire
could also be torn up during the winter by the plow blade if it accidentally rides
up the curb and begins to dig up the lawn. The
Town has recently notified every invisible fence installer in the yellow pages.
While most of these installers knew that the fences were not allowed, many apparently
did not, or they ignored the Town's rights. Not all of them accepted the fact
that the Town does not allow them. There were
a couple of installers who even said that the Town should not be troubled by any
damage occurring because "then we get a service call to fix the wire".
I think that the service calls and the expense of them can easily be averted by
following the town code. Residents are reminded
that it is also their obligation to inform invisible fence installers that the
fence must be on private property. In the event that the Town discovers a fence
being installed on public property, the owner will be notified to remove the fence
at their expense. If you do not know where
the right-of-way in the front or side of your property is, call the Town Engineer's
Office. Surveyor's stakes will be placed on the line, at no charge.
TEAM TRANSFER STATION Spring
Hill Road
Trumbull, CT 203-452-5167 Hours:
Monday
through Friday: 7:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Saturday: 7:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Monroe
& Easton: Tickets are required
Trumbull: Driver's License is required Commercial
Fees: $5.00 per 125 lbs, $80.00 per ton
Commercial & Residents Fees: $10
per 125 lbs for demolition material Dump coupons
may be purchased at the Highway Garage Office:
Monday through Friday: 7:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Highway Department Garage
366
Church Hill Road
452-5070 or 452-5071 Recycling:
Corrugated Cardboard, Newspaper, Bottles, Cans, Scrap Metal, Plastic containers
marked 1 & 2. No Plastic Bags! Recycling
of Motor Oil, Batteries and Antifreeze is available at the Town of Trumbull
Highway Department. Demolition: Demolition
tickets are required from the Town of Trumbull - $10 per 125 lbs of demolition
material: Ceramic tile, Sheetrock, Dishware, Plasterboard, Roof Shingles, Cement,
Plaster. Organic Materials: Grass, Leaves,
Weeds, Twigs, Tree Limbs (No more than four feet long & six inches in diameter).
No stumps or other wood. No railroad ties or logs soaked with creosote. NO plastic
bags. Tires - $2.00 per tire
Leaf
PickUp To be added once the 2010 Leaf Pickup Schedule is
available.
RECYCLING
Acceptable items include: -
Steel and aluminum cans, even "deposit" types
- Glass food and beverage
containers, even "deposit" types
- "1" and "2"
plastic food and beverage containers, even "deposit" types
- Newspapers,
including their inserts, tied with string, OR in a paper bag
- "Junk Mail":
all unsolicited paper mail, and all magazines; all waste computer paper, and any
other paper you no longer need (that is clean) like wrapping paper, and the inserts
from your bills. See instructions below.
- NO PLASTIC BAGS...NOTHING ELSE!!!!!! Unacceptable
items include: - Plastic bags, even if they
have a "1" or "2" on them
- Coat hangers
- Plastics
with "3", "4" or "5", etc
- Styrofoam
-
Egg cartons
- Lids on containers
- Lightbulbs
...don't put these
in the bins!!!! Your Garbage Collector can
be "fined" for collecting the wrong things, and so can you!
Save
$$$$$! Recycling saves 95% compared to the cost of the disposal of your trash!
Recycling works !!
Any Questions ?? Call
203-452-5045. Thank you for your help and assistance!
Junk
Mail & Magazine Recycling Residents
can put their junk mail and magazines in their Blue Recycling Bin !! Just put
these items in a separate paper bag from your newspapers. That's right: one paper
bag with newspapers, and one paper bag with junk mail and magazines . . . on the
top of your bottles and cans in your Blue Bin! (You can also tie each bundle
with a string or cord, BUT no plastic bags, PLEASE !) Paper
is heavy. Putting waste paper in the trash costs you $80 per ton. Putting that
same paper in the Blue Bin costs only a small fraction of that amount per ton.
Really!
Replacement
blue bins for recycling are available at the Town Garage, 366 Church Hill
Rd., for nominal fee. Call 203-452-5070, or 203-452-5071.
SNOW REMOVAL One could say
that snow removal . . . or snow and ice control, as we call it . . . is a pride
of the department. Here is how the process works:
Prior to a storm, regular weather reports are received, and the forces are made
ready. When the snow starts to fall manpower is deployed in accordance with the
level of snowfall. First, 2 to 4 trucks are dispatched. When the storm is upgraded
to "all out", as many as 23 plow trucks and 4 supervisors are on the
road. It takes nearly 8 hours for a driver to
complete his route. It takes 4 "passes" with the truck to push the snow
back to the curb. During the storm it may be
required that we "open up" the center of the road several times. Once
the storm is declared over, ONLY THEN do we push back to the curb.
DON'T shovel the end of your driveway TOO soon. It will only frustrate you that
the plows fill in the end of your driveway each time they go by. Please
be patient! Main roads are plowed first, collector streets next, and dead-ends
last. And mechanical breakdowns, high winds, and extra heavy downfall adversely
affect this priority. And remember . . . our
orange trucks are out in front of those red trucks which squirt the wet stuff
on the hot stuff, and the ambulance or the police. Emergency response comes first!
For further information call THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
at 452-5070 or 452-5071. PLOWING
HAZARDS:
Try to imagine driving down the
street in the night, driving a 35,000 pound truck (a weight greater than 10 average
automobiles), with snow pushing to the side, as well as up and over the plow (partially
obscuring your view). This is a fact, for
hours on end, with our plow drivers at the Trumbull Highway Department. It
is not easy work, even for a professional driver, because of the obvious dangers
of the weather conditions, but for other reasons as well. For example, the weight
of the snow in front of the plow makes the "feel’ of the truck different
at different times of the storm, or different places in the route (like hills
or intersections). A heavy storm can push the truck, not the other way around!
-
Automobiles:
Don't leave your car parked on the street during a storm; it may be towed. Park
your car on the end of your driveway if you are concerned about getting out, OR
park your car on the grassed shoulder of the road, parallel to the pavement.
- Basketball hoops:
For years the Town has tolerated the occasional pole firmly planted in the grass
road shoulder. Tolerated, NOT ACCEPTED! The Town doesn’t want
to pick a fight with the residents about these items, but from a public liability
point of view, everyone would agree that they really should not be "allowed
in the right-of-way." These are not "allowed"; but they do exist
there. The Public Works Department treats them basically like mailboxes. If the
snow flying off of the plow damages them, the Town accepts no responsibility for
the damage!
The new generation
of basketball base is a 30" by 40" plastic glob, 6" thick, and
filled with water or sand. Then, of course, we have the 10’ pole sticking
out, PLUS the basketball hoop and backstop. So, imagine the plow coming down the
street, it hits the base . . . because they are usually black and do not come
with reflectors . . . and now we have quite a missile!
Forget the winter . . . even in the summer we have had vehicles strike these beauties!
They are pretty dark and non-visible at night, especially if there is no street
light.
We are asking everyone to remove
them from the street. Let it be known, that if any of these basketball
stands are damaged, they will not be fixed or replaced by the Town. Furthermore,
there will be an effort to identify all of them on the roads.
Those residents will be cited, for insurance purposes, so that in the event of
a mishap with the basketball hoop in front of their property, they (and not the
Town) will be held responsible for all damages and injuries. This
is also true for the proliferation of skateboard ramps. These items
tend to be even more inconspicuous, and therefore potentially more dangerous.
People have been known to trip on them on night as they walk.
MAILBOX DAMAGE POLICY Rural
Mailboxes: When there is a heavy accumulation of snow, or the snow is slushy or
dense, the location of mailboxes close to the highway makes difficult the push-back
operations of the public Works Department, and renders the boxes quite susceptible
to damage as a result of our activity. It shall be a Public Works Policy to avoid
as much as possible the leaving of a windrow of snow in front of the mailboxes,
and to use special care and consideration when plowing in their vicinity. If mailboxes
are damaged during plowing operations, the operator of the truck shall report
the incident to the General Supervisor if he observes the damage having occurred. If
it is found that the damage to the mailbox has occurred as a result of actual
contact between the plow or the plowing vehicle, then the Town shall repair
or replace the mailbox and/or post at no cost to the homeowner. If the damage
to the mailbox occurs as a result of the weight of the snow and/or ice
contacting the mailbox, then the homeowner shall be responsible for such repairs
and/or replacement. The
latter situation can result from mailbox posts aging and rotting, or being installed
in such a way that they cannot withstand these normal snow loads. This latter
situation occurs generally through too weak a mailbox shaft, or too extensive
a "sail" area (too large a box for the post size, or more than one box,
decorations or flower boxes). Anyone claiming
damage to the mailbox or post should call the Highway Department at 452-5070 or
452-5071. NOTE: Generally the first 10 feet of
a road right of way is town property. That 10 feet area behind the curbs houses
what is generally referred to as permissible or tolerated encroachments in the
right of way. Examples of such might be mailboxes, sidewalks, fences, shrubbery,
driveways, trees, lampposts, etc. The Town cannot be responsible for these items
of other people's ownership, design and construction or installation, unless actual
contact is made. Damage from the action of plowed material after leaving the edge
of the plow must remain the risk of the owner of the encroaching item. Suggested
Mailbox and Post Installation 
GARDEN PLOTS - Abraham Nichols Park (former Wood's Estate) Vegetable
garden plots are available to any Trumbull resident, in this park off of Shelton
Rd. Register thru the Engineering Dept. at 452-5050. There is no deposit required
for Senior Citizens.
TOWN
HALL GAZEBO & HELEN PLUMB BUILDING Call the
First Selectman's Office (452-5006) for the use of the Gazebo and the Helen Plumb
Building. There may be a minimal fee for the use of these facilities.
PARK
PICNIC PERMITS Park Picnic Permits can be obtained
from the Recreation Department in Town Hall year round (452-5060). Restroom facilities
will be provided from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Special event permits for Abraham
Nichols Park cost $225 for Saturday and $300 for Sunday.
STREET
LIGHTS Generally, no new street lights are being
added in Town at this time. If you have a high crime area problem, or vandalism,
and think a street light might help, call 452-5045. Street
lights cost the Town over $300,000 dollars per year! And we pay for them whether
they are working or not (it is a flat rate per light - there is no electrical
meter on each pole). So if you see a light that is not working, or it is blinking,
please report it immediately to the U. I. Company - 800.722-5584
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