By MICHELLE MILLERL
Staff Writer

HARTWICK — Jessica Breiten is one of about a dozen residents within the Town of Hartwick who has recently joined forces with the town supervisor and town board members to develop a voluntary program to clean up the town. The community is developing a three-part plan that includes a junk vehicle removal program, a roadside clean-up event, and the placement of permanent recycling and scrap metal bins. There will be many chances for participants to win cash and other prizes.

``There has been a lot of interest in this project, with a lot of volunteers willing to put in the time to make it work, so we are hoping it goes well,’’ said Breiten. ``A lot of the details will progress as people start to register for the clean-up, but we are hoping the idea takes off and it will become a continuing thing annually.’’

Breiten said the town has held an annual roadside cleanup event in the past, and several citizens wanted to take it one step further by focusing on ridding the town of unsightly and unused motor vehicles and other large scrap metal items.

The Hartwick Clean Sweep event will take place primarily on Saturday, May 17, said Breiten. However, she said it all depends on how many people show interest in using the services being offered.

``We want to be able to pack it all into one day and make it a day event if we can,’’ said Breiten. ``We will just have to see what happens.’’

Breiten said there will be recycling and scrap metal collection bins available on a year-round basis. She said they will be placed behind the Town Hall located within the Hamlet of Hartwick.

Residents will be able to use the bins to drop off paper, plastic and mixed container recyclables that are normally accepted by Otsego County. A separate scrap metal bin will be available for scrap metal items that can be manually lifted. Acceptable scrap metal items may include, but are not limited to, old lawn mowers, metal lawn chairs, BBQ grills, pots and pans, barbed wire fencing, copper and aluminum items, old snowmobiles (with fiberglass and track removed), bicycles, wheels, rims, and car parts. Refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners are acceptable only with proper certification stickers showing that Freon gas has been professionally removed.

Town Supervisor Pat Ryan said unfortunately certain items cannot be accepted in the scrap metal bins for various reasons. A few examples of unacceptable items include home or business safes because they often contain asbestos, home electronics since there is a separate county program for these items, and hazardous materials such as paint cans, propane tanks and automotive batteries. While metal wheel rims and hubs are accepted, rubber tires will not be accepted.

The grand opening of these bins will be during the Hartwick Clean Sweep event at 9 a.m. at the Town Hall.

After the grand opening, roadside sweepers will be grouped and assigned roads to clean to make sure there are not too many people on one road.

The primary emphasis for the town’s clean-up effort is being placed on the removal of junk motor vehicles and other large scrap metal items.

``Even before I took office in January, one of the most common complaints I’ve heard relates to the apparent over abundance of junk cars, old appliances, and junk that is visible to the public, ‘’said Ryan. ``I’ve also had a number of complaints about some residents storing trash in pick-up beds or abandoned cars. This is a public safety and health issue that we just can’t ignore.’’

According to Ryan, Hartwick has a law in place that regulates junk, but rather than issuing citations, the town is first trying a voluntary clean-up effort. Free assistance is being offered to any resident of the town interested in disposing of junk vehicles or other large scrap metal items such as abandoned farm machinery, snowmobiles (with fiberglass and track removed), and car parts. Interested residents are encouraged to call Martha, the town’s junk removal coordinator, at 293-6654 to indicate their interest in participating, to obtain further details, or to schedule a junk pick-up.

The town’s program involves area towing services, and the town will coordinate pick-up on behalf of any resident of Hartwick.

Breiten said this is an especially good opportunity for those who are older and don’t want to deal with coordinating with a dealer to take away their junk.

She said there is no cost to the resident for this service, and everyone registering will have a chance to win a cash prize or gift certificate from sponsors of the event. ``The amounts and places have yet to be determined,’’ said Breiten, ``but hopefully the prizes will give people an incentive to clean up.’’

Breiten said if residents want to request part of the money for their scrap metal, the town is leaving the wheeling and dealing between the tow truck drivers and the residents. However, if the residents just want to get rid of the junk, she hopes the tow truck drivers will give some of the money earned back to the town to go towards the cost of putting on the event.

In past years, local businesses and organizations have sponsored roadside clean-up teams to collect litter, so any group, individual or business interested in participating in the roadside clean-up event this year should call Juli, the town’s roadside clean-up event coordinator, for details at 293-7324.

Free trash bags will be provided by the town, and once roadside litter is collected, full bags can be left along the road and will be collected by the members of the Hartwick Fire Department. Individuals or groups can also bring roadside litter to a dumpster located at the Town Hall.

The group or individual collecting the most bags of litter will win a cash prize. The town cautions residents not to dispose of household trash during this event since only roadside litter will be accepted.