Cape May Lighthouse/Borough of Cape May Point

CAPE MAY POINT — Borough Commission was talking trash earlier this month.

Trashcans left at the curb all week or containers blowing down the street are a familiar sight in a number of shore towns where weekend residents put out the trash Sunday afternoon and don’t return until the following Saturday.
The borough has been trying to find a solution for years to the problem.

Commission approved an ordinance allowing trashcans to be placed at the curb after 3 p.m. the day before the garbage trucks arrive. Cans are to be curbside no later than 6 a.m. on the day of collection.
After collection, empty trashcans shall be removed from curbside no later than 7 p.m. on trash day.

Recyclable materials shall be placed anytime after 3 p.m. the day before collection but no later than 6 a.m. on the day of collection.

Borough Administrator Connie Mahon said the ordinance allows residents to put out the trash earlier.

The ordinance also addresses trash picking. It noted it is a violation for any person not authorized by the borough to collect or pick up items during the 24-hour period beginning at 3 p.m. the day before collection.

For those who only return to Cape May Point on weekends, several entrepreneurs are offering to put cans out and remove them for as little as $100 for summer or about $7 per week.

In September, Borough Commission passed an ordinance specifying trash and recycling cans shall be stored in the side or rear yard of residences, screened from public view, not stored street side. The ordinance also outlawed trashcan corrals at the curb.
Some residents built enclosures at the curb for the cans known as corrals. A nice idea but trash collectors did not return the cans to corral and they still remained at curbside all week.
Corrals must be removed by Dec. 31, 2009.

As of Jan. 1, the borough is making a Dumpster™ available for both trash and recyclables for residents who come and go from Cape May Point at inconvenient times. The Dumpster ™ will be manned by Public Works on Saturdays and be located by the pump house on Sunset Boulevard.