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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP

Spring clean-up by the truckload

Community pitches in for tidy-up days in Tower and Soudan

Jodi Summit
Posted 5/7/20

TOWER-SOUDAN- The canister site in Soudan got some extra business on Monday, May 4. The first of two community-wide clean-up days in Tower and Soudan meant truck and trailer-loads of “spring …

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COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP

Spring clean-up by the truckload

Community pitches in for tidy-up days in Tower and Soudan

Posted

TOWER-SOUDAN- The canister site in Soudan got some extra business on Monday, May 4. The first of two community-wide clean-up days in Tower and Soudan meant truck and trailer-loads of “spring cleaning” were moved from yards to the canister site.
“We collected a lot of stuff,” said Breitung Maintenance Supervisor Dale Swanson. “But we are not done by any means.”
Swanson said they were continuing to do pick-ups for residents who called the clerk’s office asking for pickups during clean-up week. He said the township maintenance crew had to spend some time on Monday replacing a leaking fire hydrant, and also needed to find time this week to get the main dock in at McKinley Park in time for fishing opener.
One of the biggest benefits of such clean-up days, Swanson said, is assisting residents who are not able to get larger items, like broken appliances, to the canister site by themselves.
The crew in Soudan made good use of the township’s front-end loader, which they were using to easily transport old appliances to the canister site.
“That works out really well,” he said.
In Tower, they used old-fashioned muscle power to remove the countless old appliances that were lining city streets and alleys.
“We were using a ramp and dolly to get the appliances onto trailers,” said Tower Mayor Orlyn Kringstad, who helped lead a crew of about a dozen volunteers on Monday. City maintenance staff in Tower concentrated on removing brush and yard waste which was taken to the city’s brush-burning pit.
“I am really pleased with how it went,” Kringstad said. “There really was some civic pride shown.”
Kringstad estimated the Tower volunteers made at least 30 trips to the canister site, plus additional trips to the city’s brush pile.
Charlie Carlson, co-owner of Ubetcha Antiques, made good use of his time off due to his store being closed to make 11 trips to the Soudan canister site.
“We got a lot of stuff,” he said.
Kringstad said there was some confusion because he initially had been told they were allowed to bring construction-type debris to the canister site with their special clean-up days permit issued by St. Louis County.
“We did end up buying punch tickets for some of the stuff we picked up which wasn’t permitted for free,” he said.
But overall, Kringstad said his volunteer crew, which included Kevin Norby, Tim Mickle, Dave Broten and Lynn Scott, along with city maintenance and office staff, did a great job wrangling with all that had been left for pick-up, and the crew all planned to be back helping out on the second clean-up day on May 6.
The city is still looking into options for residents who would like to get old vehicles towed away.
The next step, Kringstad said, would be getting a group of volunteers to pick up trash along the city’s bike trails and other roadsides and alleys.