MASSENA - Computer monitors and televisions will be no-no’s when the village of Massena conducts its annual spring cleanup this year.

Village officials have set the cleanup dates as April 15-19 north of the Grasse River and April 22-26 south of the Grasse River.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Hassan A. Fayad told village trustees most of the cleanup will be conducted as it has been in the past.

“It’s the same format. They bring their debris out the weekend before,” he said.

However, he noted, DPW employees will not be picking up any televisions, computer monitors or items that have been cannibalized.

“Once the TVs are placed at curbside, other people smash the back side, retrieving the metal components,” Mr. Fayad said.

Under state law, televisions that have been compromised cannot be placed into E-waste, and they also won’t be accepted for refuse because of the lead and other hazardous environmental content, he said.

Residents can instead take those items to the transfer station any time during the year at no cost, according to Mr. Fayad.

“They can be taken by the public to the transfer station as long as they’re not broken,” he said.

Mayor James F. Hidy said he has seen evidence of people collecting some items, cannibalizing them and putting the remains out to the road for pick-up.

“We went out riding around one day. I counted 10 computer monitors in a guy’s front yard and in the back yard he had 22 more. They were cannibalized, and he wanted us to pick them up. We didn’t pick them up,” he said.

As in the past, the DPW will also not be collecting any construction materials, Mr. Fayad said. That includes toilets, which are considered construction debris.

“We do not accept construction debris at all. Somebody tore down a whole garage and put it curbside,” Mr. Fayad said, noting that’s an abuse of the system which, if it continued, could mean the end of cleanup days.

The DPW will also be collecting brush at residences, he said, noting there is no longer any dumping of brush at their facility.

Hazardous waste such as batteries, pesticides and fluorescent bulbs are also on the list of items the DPW won’t pick up. Those can be taken to the old DPW building from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 14 during the county’s hazardous waste collection day, Mr. Fayad said.

In addition to waiting until the weekend before pickup to place their items curbside, he asked residents to separate their debris into piles such as metal items, tires and Freon items. Doors should also be removed on refrigerators, and no items should be placed in dark bags.

The DPW will only traverse a street once, and any remaining debris that they don’t pick up must be removed by the end of the next working day. Mr. Fayad said a local ordinance will be enforced to ensure items are cleaned up following the pick-up.

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