“It's the most we've ever collected in a district,” said Assistant City Manager Todd Darden. “On average, we only get about 3 tons each time we do this, so we were very pleased with last month's numbers. It's participation and accomplishments like this that make the effort city employees put into the program worth it.”

The program, which aims to help area residents remove large, cumbersome items from their property they might not otherwise be able to transport to the landfill, began in April in the city's District 1, and is slated to canvas District 4 — represented by Councilwoman Gloria McDonald — Friday.

“We're not sure why we were able to collect so many items last month,” said Darden. “However, we're hoping to see good participation from residents Friday as well.”

While Darden is hopeful city residents will take advantage of the annual effort, residents do need to be aware of what can and cannot be picked up, he said.

“Some of the more typical items we pick up are appliances that don’t work anymore, couches and mattresses,” said Darden. “Those are the kind of things that we can take to our landfill and we’re allowed to pick up. However, we can’t pick up any household hazardous waste. That means any kind of chemicals including lawn chemicals, car batteries and tires and things of that nature. We also won’t be picking up any tree branches, shrubs or things like that this year.

“We’re trying to target people who are elderly, handicapped or otherwise don’t have the means to get these large items to our landfill. This is a service the city is going to provide as a courtesy to those people and give them the opportunity to get things off of their property they might not be able to otherwise.”

All items must be by the curb in the city’s right-of-way no sooner than 24 hours before the scheduled pick up. Items need to be separated as much as possible for its trip to the municipal landfill.

“To be placed on the pick up list, all residents have to do is call 264-2504 or 264-2501, and we’ll get them set up. If they don’t call and get on the list, we can’t pick up their items.”

Darden said customers need to be aware of gas, water and electricity meters and lines when they put their large items out to be picked up.

“A lot of time we have to bring in equipment to pick those large items up,” he said. “If you cover the meters up, it’s hard for us to know where they are. Using the equipment makes the pick up go quicker and we want to make sure our employees are safe while they are picking these things up.”

For more information on the large item pick up program and maps of the six city districts, visit the city of Big Spring Website at www.ci.big-spring.tx.us, or call 264-2504.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it