Pilot Point residents came out to take advantage of the largest Trash Off event so far on Saturday morning.
Throughout the event, there were 60 loads of bulk trash, 75 loads of yard and brush waste, 55 loads of electronics and 30 loads of metal dropped off, 10,000 pounds of paper shredded, 15 batteries and 75 tires taken to Integrity Car Care and 50 household hazardous waste vouchers redeemed.
'This one has actually kicked off a lot quicker than the ones in the past,' Parks Director Jason Poncio said. 'And I can tell we're growing … because we have a lot of faces that you normally don't see, so it's been very busy on both ends.'
The household hazardous waste collection, along with the paper shredding, was held at Groff Park.
Staff from the Upper Trinity Regional Water District and Denton County Transportation and Engineering handled the items that came in for hazardous waste disposal.
Shane Lewis of Upper Trinity gave the safety briefing before the crew started accepting items from the public.
'If we have a chemical spill or whatever, there's an air horn in there; I'll blow it and everybody will come back over here because the wind's blowing that way,' he said.
Denton County provided the vouchers.
'The county partners with the cities,' said Judy Hall of Denton County. 'We buy the vouchers so that the residents don't have to pay, so we have an opportunity with Upper Trinity. They are our middle man. They collect all the hazardous waste and take it over to the Fort Worth collection center, and that way we keep all this stuff out of the water system. It's very beneficial for us.'
When Hall started with the county, there was only one household hazardous waste collection event, Hall said.
'We now have four,' she said. 'And Pilot Point has graciously done their event twice a year. They do theirs in the spring and the fall, and so that makes five for us.'
Lantana, Sanger and Oak Point are the other cities that participate.
Billy Ray Pedigo was one of the residents who took the opportunity to use the services organized by Poncio and worked by members of his staff as well as the Public Works Department in addition to Upper Trinity and Denton County.
'Cooking oil and such, it sits around and sits around and you think, 'What am I going to do with it?'' he said. 'Finally, here it is. I love this. I came last year, and I'm glad they do it.'
Ray Dane, who serves on the City Council, came out as a resident to dispose of household hazardous waste, too.
'Everybody who lives here wants the community to look good and we want to take care of our environment, and this is an opportunity for us to do that,' Dane said at Groff Park on Saturday morning. 'To get rid of things we don't need, don't want and don't know what to do with.'
Out at the water treatment plant, residents brought the loads of bulk trash, electronics and metal through Waste Connections and wood and yard waste in the wood pile on the plant site.
'[Those partnerships] definitely bring an element that we haven't had before that helps the community out,' Poncio said. 'And that's very important, and as we keep growing, I'm trying to find other ways to be able to [expand the events].'
