The Syracuse Department of Public Works will offer a new program to remove excess trash from off-campus housing properties during the three weeks after the end of the semester.

The program gives property owners the option of having excess trash picked up for a fee of $225 per property from May 7-24. Property owners can still hire their own private haulers, but any violations of city code will result in a minimum fine of $225 per violation, according to a press release by the department Monday.

Public Works Department officials created the program because of the amount of trash generated by the large number of students moving out at the end of the semester, according to the release.

All properties are still entitled to their regular weekly pickup. Property owners who want to participate in the program must sign up by May 3, according to the release.

Matthew Cuvelier, a senior finance major who lives on Clarendon Avenue, said he thinks the program could be helpful to students from out of state. Cuvelier said his roommate rented a U-Haul truck and brought furniture for their house. Rather than having to bring the furniture back to his Connecticut home, where there would be no space, he could use the program to dispose of the furniture.

Matt Del Greco, a junior communication and rhetorical studies major who lives on Livingston Avenue, said he thinks the program could aid in removing excessive trash from the neighborhood.

‘I know that when it’s just a regular trash day, there’s plenty of people who are going through other people’s trash on the front lawn,’ he said. ‘Anything to deter that would be great.’

Although Del Greco said he doesn’t think he and his roommates will use the program, he hadn’t heard about the program but would have liked to be told about it.

Said Del Greco: ‘It’s unfortunate that they set up some kind of program like this without telling anybody.’

jliannet@syr.edu 

Published on April 23, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta