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Possible trash solution may not look historic enough

Trash cans were overflowing right in the heart of St. Augustine's tourist district during the holidays.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Trash cans were overflowing right in the heart of St. Augustine's tourist district during the holidays. 

On New Year's Day, First Coast News brought you this story about how some people are really concerned about the message trash gives to visitors.

Because it was a holiday, First Coast News was not able to get a comment from the city government.

Now, there is one, and the city has been working on a solution. 

Ken Cerotzke works at a privately-run trolley ticket booth on St. George Street. It's the busiest street for tourists in St. Augustine. It's the same pedestrian road that saw some overflowing trash cans during the very busy holiday season here which some visitors and locals complained about.

One tourist told First Coast News three weeks ago, "It's nice with all the lights (for Nights of Lights), and then you walk by and see trash in all the bins. It puts a damper on things." 

Cerotzke, who has a front row seat to activity downtown, said the full trash cans are a seasonal issue. "I would say between Christmas and New Years when it was the worse. Outside of that, it really isn't that bad."

Todd Grant with St. Augustine's Public Works Department said, "From 7 p.m. to the next morning, the trash cans are unattended. They're small. So it doesn't take much to fill them up." 

The city is working on a fancy fix to the trash issue. Grant said it's called a Big Belly solar trash compactor.

The city has one of these super trash bins in a park right now, and the city is considering putting more of them on St. George Street. 

Grant said, "This will hold 8 to 10 times what the (current) trash can will because it keeps compacting it." 

The new compactors are slightly bigger and they don't leak nor do they let animals in like the current cans do.

There are about 40 trash cans on St. George Street. Grant is thinking about placing 12 of the new bins on the street to begin with.  At $5,000 a piece, that's a total price tag of $60,000.

"They're not cheap," Grant said. 

But there could be some cost savings.

"Staff is not accruing overtime. They're not driving around to every trash can. So in the long run, fuel savings and labor costs. Overtime I think it's worth it," Grant said. 

But there is a hang-up. The new bins would be in the historic district and the city's own historic and architectural review board -- which would have to approve the new trash cans... doesn't like the non-historic look.

"They'd like me to have them wrapped or disguised. So I'm working on that," Grant. said.

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