By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The city of Alabaster is planning to continue the city’s current weekly curbside pickup program through April 2019, but City Council members are considering other methods of helping city residents dispose of large debris after then, they said during a Nov. 13 work session.

The discussion came a few days before the council is set to hold a public hearing on the matter during its Nov. 19 meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. at Alabaster City Hall. Following the public hearing, the council likely will vote on whether to end the Alabaster Public Works Department’s weekly curbside pickup program for non-wood waste in April 2019.

If the matter is approved, the city would continue to pick up curbside wood and yard waste, such as trees, leaves and grass clippings, each week, and would pick up other types of curbside debris twice a year: Once in April and once in October.

During the Nov. 13 work session, council members said they are considering new offerings to allow residents to dispose of the curbside non-wood and yard waste currently collected by the city each week.

Proposals included possibly paying for Alabaster residents to access the Shelby County Landfill for free one day each week and offering a heavy debris collection site somewhere in the city once a month.

Council members said they are planning to look at those possibilities over the next few months, and will announce any new offerings closer to April.

Currently, Public Works uses grapple trucks to pick up any type of debris left on curbs throughout the city and transports it to the landfill. Public Works Director Mark Harris said issues arise when wood waste is mixed with other types of debris, such as household trash, furniture and other items, and then transported to the landfill. The Public Works curbside debris pickup service is separate from the city’s regular weekly trash and recycling pickup.

From 2010 to 2017, the city saw its number of hauls to the landfill double, and Harris said this year’s number is on track to surpass the 2017 number.

Because of the volume of curbside waste collected by the city every week, Harris said the Public Works Department does not have the manpower to separate debris by type before transporting it to the landfill, which drives up landfill costs for the city. During an October work session, Harris showed council members photos of several massive trash piles containing everything from children’s outdoor playsets to construction debris left on the curb for the city to pick up, and said the Public Works Department encounters them on a daily basis.