FRANKLIN
In the New Year, perhaps one of your resolutions is to live with less clutter. It’s also a time when some people move, so perhaps you might get stuck with a tenant’s items. What do you do with it?

In the past, these items often went out onto the streets, impacting the surrounding residents as the unsightly material remained for perhaps weeks, being carried in the wind and spreading to adjacent properties and the street.

The City of Franklin wants to remind people of the options available to dispose of household discards, including those left behind after a tenant leaves.

• The SPSA Franklin Transfer Station, 30521 General Thomas Highway, will accept most household discards, including furniture and appliances, from anyone with any sort of identification that includes a Franklin or Southampton County address at no charge. The hours are generally Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon. For more information, including about tires and hazardous waste, call 961-3882.

• The Franklin Department of Public Works will pick up no more than four bulky items, including furniture and appliances, from a property with a current utility account. The account holder must call 562-8564 to schedule a pickup, and such pick ups are only made on Wednesdays. Call by 2 p.m. on Tuesday to make arrangement of these items at no charge.

• Should there be more than four items, properties with a current utility account can call 562-8564 to arrange for a special pick up. This arrangement incurs a fee of $100 per dump truck load or part thereof plus the tipping fee and an administrative fee of $75.

• However, should household discards be placed at the curb not in conjunction with your regular solid waste pick up and not in approved containers and no arrangements have been made with the department for the collection, the final option is that the city will send a letter to the property owner requiring the removal of the discards within five calendar days. Should the discards not be removed, the Department of Public Works will remove the discards and the property owner will be assessed $250 plus the $75 administrative fee. This applies to properties with or without a current utility account. This will be assessed to the property owner, payable within 15 days of receipt of the bill, and if unpaid will be assessed as are taxes including a 10 percent penalty.

In the spring, the City of Franklin has an amnesty week for the pickup of the following at no charge to current utility account holders or property owners, in conjunction with your typical solid waste pick up.

• All unused objects from your yard such as lawnmowers, containers and old tires.

• All unused objects from your home such as broken appliances, old pieces of furniture and TVs.

• Unused deteriorated building materials and firewood.

This clean-up week will be advertised, so look for it in the spring of each year, usually during the month of April.

For more information, contact Lin Darden, general services superintendent, at 562-8603 or ldarden@franklinva.com.