City clean-up surpasses truck capacity

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Members of the local guard unit filled 16 trailers with household items during the weekend’s Flandreau city-wide cleanup, but had to come back for more.
The event brought so much waste to the curb that the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 1742nd Transportation Company wasn’t able to pick everything up because they filled every trailer they had, said Staff Sergeant Bart Sample. The remainder of the curb pickups in the south part of Flandreau will be collected this week after the trailers can be off-loaded in Brookings.
Sample estimates there is another six to eight loads left to collect yet. No additional items should be added at this point, he said. “We’re going to finish what’s left, what’s already there.”
This year’s city-wide cleanup, in advance of next year’s 150th anniversary of Flandreau, allowed residents to put more types of items on the curb, including appliances. Grills, mattresses and wood were some of the most common items left for pickup, which started Sunday morning.

The cleanup also drew some unintended participants.
“We’ve got people from the country hauling stuff into town and that is not the intent of this at all,” Sample said. “Numerous people have seen them.”
Sample and city employees were hauling trailers out of town Monday. Some soldiers would be able to help this week pick up the remaining loads, Sample said.
“It was good to get this stuff cleaned up,” he said. This year’s number of loads isn’t the most the guard unit has collected. There were more trailers of disposed items the first year they offered a community cleanup, he said.
City Administrator Jeff Pederson the cleanup definitely surpassed expectations, but it is helpful to get rid of that volume of clutter. “It’s good to see that much participation for sure,” he said.