Public Works Department

Town Hall

5866 Main Street.

Trumbull, CT 06611

M - F, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

except for legal holidays

Public Works Director
John DelVecchio:

203-452-5045

Public Works Dept:

203-452-5045

TEAM Transfer Station
Spring Hill Road
203-452-5167
M-F: 7:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
Sat.: 7:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
Closed on Legal Holidays

Highway Department:
203-452-5070 or 203-452-5071

Engineering : 203-452-5045

Park Department : 203-452-5075

. . . doing it better. . . for you!!!

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

BULKY WASTE PICKUP

The Bulky Waste Pickup Program operates from February through the end of September. To obtain an appointment for the once a year pickup call 452-5070. We will start taking appointments again in February.

The Public Works Department picks up large items from the curbs of residences. The service is designed to help residents bring to the Disposal Area BIG PIECES OF TRASH that they otherwise could not haul to the Transfer Station on Spring Hill Road. There is no charge for the service.

Each residence will receive only one pickup per household per year, by appointment only, from February to September. Call the Public Works Department at 452-5071 for an appointment from January 15th to September 1st.

Acceptable items include:

Sofas, chairs, refrigerators (door removed), rugs, rug pads, mattresses, dishwashers, washing machines, & brush (in tied bundles).

DO NOT PUT OUT ! ! !

Household garbage and trash, or:

UNTIED brush.

Hazardous materials like oil based paint, motor oil, and pesticides.

RECYCLABLE materials . . . Blue bin stuff

Demolition materials like asphalt shingles, sheetrock, insulation, concrete or stone.

Vehicles (no automobile parts)

Explosives

Tree stumps (small shrub stumps okay)

Dead animals

Tires

Pieces of WOOD or METAL that are over four feet (4') long, or greater than 4" in diameter

If your discard pile is a disorderly, thrown together "mess", your spot will be bypassed, and you forfeit your opportunity for this year.

Call 452-5071 if you have questions about the proper way to dispose of the unacceptable items noted above.

DISPOSAL OF WASTE MOTOR OIL, CAR BATTERIES & ANTIFREEZE

Waste 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

Trumbull Loose Leaf PickUp has begun. Districts & weeks for loose leaf pickup are as follows: District 3: week of 11/05. District 1: week of 11/12. District 2: week of 11/19. District 7: week of 11/26. District 4: week of 12/03. District 5: week of 12/10. District 6: week of 12/17.

Residents in all districts may call for bagged leaf pickup through December 17th. Leaves must be placed in paper bags for bagged pickup. Information or pickup of bagged leaves, call 452-5070 or 452-5071.

RECYCLING

The Town recycling efforts have not improved for the last few years. Residents are asked to work harder at saving blue bin items for recycling. Blue bin items include metal, glass and plastic food containers, junk mail & magazines, and newspapers. Remember it costs $80.00 per ton if you put an item in the garbage pail, and only a small fraction of that amount to recycle the same item.

A residential hauler was fined $3,600.00 for commingling recyclables with the garbage this year. This company was caught in the act because of reports by observing residents. If anyone sees garbage haulers commingling recyclables with the garbage, please call the Office of the Director of Public Works 452-5045, or the Police Department at 261-3665.

Finally, residents should note that smaller garbage trucks have a recycling compartment. Therefore, while the recycling may be put into a "garbage truck," the garbage hauler may not be commingling. Please make sure that you are reporting any offenses correctly. If you have a video camera, please send us the recording (or let us re-record from your tape).

Trumbull's garbage haulers only pick up your recyclables IF you pay them to pick up your trash already. If you do not have a garbage hauler, you must bring the recyclables to the Transfer Station on Spring Hill Rd. There is no public recycling at Town Hall.

Everyone know the BASICS of Blue Bin Recycling, but just in case you don't:

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 452-5045. Thank you for your help and assistance!

Junk Mail & Magazine Recycling

Residents can now 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.