Heavy Trash
by Lindsey Lee

The OFNA has received many complaints about residents placing heavy trash out weeks before heavy trash day. Placing heavy trash out early creates an eyesore and shows disrespect not only for your neighbors but yourself. This problem is not isolated to Oak Forest. Older neighborhoods with limited deed restrictions, like Oak Forest, have little, if any, power to enforce the placement of heavy trash.

A resident can place heavy trash in the front yard beginning at 6:00 p.m. the Friday before the scheduled pickup day. If your assigned day is the third Thursday, you can place heavy trash in your front yard beginning the preceding 6 days. I used to think one of my neighbors was consistently violating the city's rules until I checked. Compounding the problem is the heavy trash trucks don't always run on schedule.

If you see someone violating this rule, help us do something about this problem. Call 3-1-1 (the City of Houston service center) and file a complaint. Pass out notices to your neighbors of when your heavy trash pickup day is. If you want, I'll print them. (As far as I can tell, the city no longer mails an annual notice of assigned heavy trash pick up days to residents). Suggest some ideas to solve this problem. Just remember, we are a volunteer organization with limited resources.

Heavy trash pickup maps and schedules