Roscoe hosting revised spring clean-up event

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Starting today, Roscoe residents will have a week-long opportunity to clean up – and keep themselves busy – during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Tom Wilkinson said the borough hosts a community clean up each spring, but because of the virus and social distancing restrictions, this year’s event will be slightly different.
The borough will purchase and place two dumpsters from Fayette Waste for residents to use to clean out their homes, basements and garages.
Dumpsters will be located in the St. Joseph Catholic Church parking lot on Good Street and a second dumpster will be placed in the Slovak Club parking lot on Archer Street.
“We usually do a community clean up, but we weren’t sure how that would look this year,” Wilkinson said. “I saw a resident in town bought their own dumpster and was clearing out their garage and I thought that would be something the borough could do, too, instead of our usual cleanup.”
The dumpsters will be available for one week, but if the need persists they will be available longer.
“This will give people the opportunity to clean up their yards, garages and basements without having to worry about where they are going to put their junk or grass clippings,” he said. “We hope people will take advantage.”
Code Officer Mark Gordon has been giving residents warnings about violations on their properties, including high grass, weeds and clutter in the yards of their homes.
“This is partially because of COVID-19 and giving residents a way to keep busy and help them get rid of things they don’t need, but also an opportunity for them to get their properties ready to avoid warnings or citations,” Wilkinson said. “A lot of the time when someone is given a violation they say they don’t have anywhere to put the junk, so hopefully this helps them with that problem and they can get it cleaned up.
Residents can call to arrange for the borough to bring a truck to pick up grass and shrub clippings.
Wilkinson said tires and other large furniture items, such as couches or mattresses, will not be accepted.
Residents who have larger items can call the borough, which will arrange for Fayette Waste for pick-up.
“We have a nice community and we don’t want to see it get out of hand. We want to keep it looking nice, and right now people are looking for things to do, so why not this.”
To arrange for shrub or brush pick-up, or for more information, call 724-350-9672 or 724-747-6441.