COLORADO SPRINGS- After last week’s late-season snowstorm, many people are cleaning up the mess left behind.
From fallen trees, branches, and destroyed landscaping, for many neighbors on the Northeast side of Colorado Springs, they’ve spent the last week getting piles together and to drop them off or get the debris picked up.
Over the holiday weekend, the city learned about a big mess left behind because of people illegally dumping their debris near Cottonwood Creek Park.
The parking lot by the YMCA, is typically used after the holidays for people dropping off Christmas trees, which is put on by a local group. However, the city doesn’t offer a service to pick up debris after a storm like Colorado Springs just saw.
“We already own 250,000 street trees and park trees, there’s no way logistically that the city should take ownership of private trees and handle that biomass for the citizens,” Dennis Will, the City Forester in Colorado Springs said.
Will added that if the city did a service like that it would require additional staffing and crews, currently, about 16 people are working on cleaning up the damage and debris left behind the storm.
The city says a worker in the area started placing branches there to clean up city trees nearby, and over the holiday weekend people started following suit.
Will says the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) placed barriers up over the weekend as a way to deter people from illegally dumping. With all of the branches and trees in the area, it means additional time cleaning up the city from the damage.
If you do need to get rid of damage and debris from the recent storm, you will need to contact someone to do so. Some of these services range around $100.
Rocky Top Resources in Colorado Springs will allow anyone to drop off their debris for free on Saturdays, as long as they bring a canned food donation or monetary donation for Care and Share Food Bank.
You can reach the company at 719-579-9103. They’re located at 1755 E Las Vegas Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
