Marysville weathers winter blast

MARYSVILLE — A winter blast that closed schools, delayed garbage pickup and made for some hazardous driving finally left town as temperatures began rising over the weekend.

The winter storm made for a white Christmas, but also caused a number of problems locally. The weight of the heavy snow caused the roof to collapse at an industrial building Dec. 22, forced the Ken Baxter Community Center to close, sent school children from the Marysville and Lakewood school districts home for an extended winter break and kept road crews busy trying to keep the main thoroughfares as clear of snow as possible.

Due to the improving conditions, City of Marysville solid waste crews have resumed scheduled pickup of residential and commercial garbage, and have doubled staff on trucks to enable faster collection while freeing up time to grab missed pickup routes.

“Our goal is to pick up regular Friday routes today, and as many missed garbage pickups along way as road conditions allow,” said Doug Buell, Community Information Officer. “Saturday pickup service should be on schedule, and will give us another chance going into next week.”

Buell added that getting to some areas in the foothills is still problematic, and if unable to access those neighborhoods, they will continue to try as road conditions allow. In some instances, sander trucks are following behind garbage trucks to improve road access.

If garbage has been missed due to adverse snow and ice conditions, solid waste crews will collect all additional garbage on customers’ next regularly scheduled collection day. Customers should place excess garbage in a container or trash bag next to their existing garbage toter, and it will be picked up at no extra charge.

Most garbage service had been stalled since Dec. 17, with the exception of commercial pickup that was completed last weekend.

The city of Marysville provides solid waste pickup to more than 9,500 homes.

For recycling, Waste Management NW has not picked up recyclables or monthly yard debris since Dec. 17. These service days will not be made up. WM will pick up loads on customers’ next regular recycling pickup day. Yard debris will be picked up on customers’ next regular scheduled pickup day the week of Jan. 19.

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