[Amended 6-18-1984 by Ord. No. 785A; 6-18-1984 by Ord. No. 785B; 2-20-2007 by Ord. No. 07-107A; 5-21-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-158; 8-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2018-4; 9-20-2021 by Ord. No. 2022-25]
A. No person shall put or place, or cause to be put or placed, in any
street, lane, alley or any other place, public or private, where it
may be offensive or objectionable, any ashes, dirt or refuse, nor
shall any piece of metal or wood or any plastic in any form or other
material injurious to feet or to tires of vehicles or any other rubbish
be put, placed or thrown into or on any street, lane, alley or public
place. No person shall throw or place on any vacant land, whether
public or private, or in any brook, waterway, or pool rubbish, limbs,
brush, barrels, boxes, or the likes.
B. No person shall place or cause to be placed on any sidewalk, footwalk
or crosswalk any object whatsoever so as to interfere with the convenient
use of the same by any person traveling thereon. This shall not apply
to building materials placed by permission of the City Engineer.
C. Residential refuse receptacles shall be watertight with tight-fitting
covers of a durable rodent-proof material. A sufficient number of
receptacles shall be provided by property owners or their agent(s)
so as to adequately contain the amount of refuse produced at each
property. Receptacles shall be no larger than 50 gallons.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Order No. 2022-65]
D. Receptacles shall be tightly covered whenever refuse of any amount
is contained therein, have it be on private property, a private way,
or a public sidewalk. Refuse shall be stored in receptacles as described
in this section except for material which may be placed at curbside
under city-sponsored source reduction and/or source separation collection
programs in accordance with the guidelines of such programs. Each
residence is allowed to dispose of one bulky item per week in curbside
trash pickup, which is not required to be contained in a receptacle.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Order No. 2022-65]
E. Refuse receptacles shall be placed at the curb by 7:00 a.m. on the
scheduled collection day, not prior to 5:00 p.m. the preceding day,
and shall be removed from the sidewalk within 12 hours after collection.
F. The following shall apply to Subsections
A through
D of this section:
(1) Whoever violates any provision of the aforementioned sections shall
be penalized in accordance with MGL c. 40, § 21D or MGL
c. 270, § 16, not to exceed $100 for each violation, provided
that each and every day of the violation shall constitute a distinct
and separate offense.
(2) Property owners or their agents shall be responsible for the retrieval
and pickup of any and all scattered refuse stemming from a violation
of this section. Failure to comply with this provision shall constitute
a separate violation, which may be enforced as authorized above.
(3) The Board of Health, the Department of Public Works, and the Police
Department, through their authorized agents and employees, are hereby
empowered to enforce the provisions of this section pursuant to MGL
c. 40, § 21D and MGL c. 270, § 16.
(4) No property owner shall be cited for a violation of this section
until a written warning is first served upon the party.
G. Any party fined hereunder shall have a right of appeal in accordance
with MGL c. 40, § 21D.
[Amended 9-24-1990 by Ord. No. 91-10; 11-1-1990 by Ord. No. 91-33; 1-21-1992 by Ord. No. 92-119; 3-16-1992 by Ord. No. 92-241; 3-7-1994 by Ord. No. 94-176; 7-18-1994 by Ord. No. 94-343; 6-26-2002 by Ord. No. 02-367; 6-26-2002 by Ord. No. 02-368; 6-26-2003 by Ord. No. 03-292; 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-264A; 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-264B; 6-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-264C; 6-21-2004 by Ord. No. 04-264D; 6-23-2005 by Ord. No.
05-243; 6-5-2006 by Ord. No. 06-172; 2-2-2009 by Ord. No. 09-109; 5-21-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-158; 6-25-2015 by Ord. No. 2015-168; 9-20-2021 by Ord. No. 2022-16]
The Director of Public Works shall, in addition to the duties
prescribed by law and the Charter, have charge of the collection and
disposal of ashes and other household rubbish, including garbage,
under proper regulations approved by the Mayor and City Council.
A. The Director of Public Works shall maintain and publish a Waste and
Recycling Services Schedule of Fees on the Department of Public Works
website for curbside pickup services, City Yard drop-off items, and
special City Yard events.
B. For solid waste collection, residents shall use plastic or metal
barrels under 50 gallons and 45 pounds. No more than four barrels
or bags and one bulky item per week will be picked up from each household.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Order No. 2022-65]
C. The Director of Public Works shall, for a period beginning on or
around April 15 and ending about December 15, collect at curbside,
biweekly or monthly as defined in its annual collection calendar,
all leaves and grass clippings, provided that such materials do not
violate any regulation or rule authorized by this section. Leaves
and grass clippings shall be placed at curbside for City pickup in
plain brown paper bags or barrels, subject to such reasonable limits
as may be set by the Director of Public Works. No loose materials
will be collected. The Director of Public Works shall operate a drop-off
yard waste collection program in conjunction with this subsection.
D. There shall be a collection of large metal goods by the Public Works
Department either once or twice a week at the Director's discretion
and under the following regulations:
(1) Metal goods include refrigerators, sinks, stoves, bathtubs, toilets,
shower stalls, radiators, metal file cabinets, metal desks, dismantled
play sets, metal pipes tied together in a bundle weighing not in excess
of approximately 30 pounds and any other metal goods requiring special
pickup.
(2) Each metal goods item as defined in Subsection
D(1) will be picked up at curbside for a fee, listed in the Schedule of Fees as "metal goods item pickup" and payable to the City of Melrose. The homeowner/resident wishing to dispose of such items will obtain a receipt from the Department of Public Works after payment is made for each item. Any item that has no sticker will not be picked up by the City or its agents.
(3) The collection of these fees is to be in accordance with Chapter
56, Officers and Employees, §
56-21.
(4) Moneys collected under this Subsection
D shall be set aside in a special fund suggested by the Auditor.
E. There shall be a collection of mattress(es) and/or box spring(s)
made by a vendor at the discretion of the Director of Public Works.
This collection shall be made pursuant to the following:
(1) Each mattress or box spring will be picked up curbside for a fee,
as listed in the Schedule of Fees as "mattress pickup." This fee shall
be paid to the City of Melrose in advance of any curbside pickup.
(2) The collection of these fees is to be in accordance with Chapter
56, Officers and Employees, §
56-21.
F. No person, except an authorized employee or agent of the Public Works
Department, shall remove any article or material deposited or placed
upon a street or sidewalk for the purpose of being collected by the
Public Works Department.
G. No dumpster may be placed on City streets without first obtaining
written permission from the Director of Public Works or their designee.
H. Trash tipping fee.
(1) Residential. A trash fee, listed in the Schedule of Fees per dwelling
unit is hereby established effective July 1, 2005, on all residential
structures of six units or fewer.
(3) Discount.
(a)
Effective January 1, 2016, any senior citizen (65 years or older)
who owns and occupies a single-family home or condominium with an
income of $65,870 or less for a single person, $75,280 or less for
married couples, will be eligible for a 50% discount for this fee.
(b)
Effective January 1, 2016, hardship cases. Any citizen who owns
and occupies a single-family home or condominium with an income of
$35,000 or less for a single person, $40,000 or less for married couples,
will be eligible for a 100% discount for this fee.
(c)
Proviso. Eligibility should be determined by using the adjusted
gross income number found on the IRS 1040 form.
(5) Billing. The Collector shall issue bills quarterly.
(6) Exemption. Any person that can demonstrate an alternative lawful
disposal method may apply for an exemption.
I. Billing period; place of placement; delinquent payments.
(1) All bills for solid waste and recycling shall be made out and rendered
by the Public Works Department to consumers quarterly, and all such
bills shall be payable within 30 days at the office of the City Collector.
(2) Bills not paid within 30 days shall be subject to the following:
(b)
Interest penalty of 14% from the due date.
(c)
Lien fee of $10, to be applied only on those solid waste and
recycling bills that become lien on real estate tax bills.
[Added 1-22-1991 by Ord.
No. 91-123; amended 8-15-1994 by Ord. No. 94-344; 2-20-2007 by Ord. No. 07-107B; 9-20-2021 by Ord. No. 2022-16]
A. General provisions.
(1) The City of Melrose will provide for the curbside collection of acceptable recyclable waste from residences with six units or fewer in accordance with the provisions of §
198-3 and this section.
(2) "Acceptable recyclable waste" is defined by the Director of Public
Works, in accordance with waste disposal bans established by the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and the guidelines
of the materials recovery facility (MRF) to which the recyclable waste
is hauled.
B. Recycling containers; usage, placement.
(1) The recycling containers must be placed at curbside in accordance with the schedule to be announced by the Department of Public Works and will be collected by a contractor as agent for the City of Melrose. If material placed in the recycling container is not acceptable recyclable waste as defined in Subsection
A, it will be left in the recycling container, and the resident shall remove the unacceptable recyclable waste before placing the recycling container at curbside for the next collection.
(2) Residents shall use plastic or metal barrels/bins under 50 gallons
and 45 pounds for their single stream recycling. Barrels/bins should
be clearly labeled as recycling.
[Amended 2-22-2022 by Order No. 2022-65]
(3) Source separation of acceptable recyclable waste shall be performed
by the residents according to the instructions given by the Department
of Public Works.
C. Authorized collection of acceptable recyclable waste. No person,
except those individuals and companies authorized by the City of Melrose,
shall collect or pick up or cause to be collected or picked up any
acceptable recyclable waste which has been placed for collection pursuant
to the provisions of this section. The individuals or companies so
authorized shall supply the City of Melrose with receipts for collected
accepted recyclable wastes, and all collections of accepted recyclable
wastes shall take place according to the trash pickup schedule determined
by the Department of Public Works but no earlier than 7:00 a.m. and
no later than 6:00 p.m. of the same day, unless arranged in advance
with the Director of Public Works to accommodate special circumstances.
[Amended 9-17-2007 by Ord. No. 07-107C; 5-21-2012 by Ord.
No. 2012-158]
The City Engineer shall have charge of the maintenance and management
of all places authorized by the Board of Health to be used as public
dumps. The City Engineer shall have authority to regulate by suitable
signs or by rules issued by him/her the use of such dumps by employees
of the City, contractors and all other persons and to require compliance
therewith. The City Engineer shall furnish copies of all rules made
under authority of this section to the Chief of the Police Department,
and it shall be the duty of the police officers to enforce such rules.
Any person who violates any regulation or rule authorized by this
section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300 for each
violation and will be responsible for the cleaning of the area.
State law reference — Assignment by Board
of Health of places for public and private dumps, MGL c. 111, § 150A.