ABOVE: The Yard Waste Recycling site in Fairmont officially opens today, April 1. Sentinel file photo.

FAIRMONT– The Yard Waste Recycling Site in Fairmont, a service provided by the city for utility customers, officially opens for the season today.

The site is located at 1880 100th Street and is intended for personal yard waste recycling though commercial use is allowed year-round by permit from the city.

Public Works Superintendent, Nick Lardy, said they open the site yearly around April 1 but noted last year it was open for the whole year due to excess tree removal of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). EAB has continued to result in extra use of the site.

“The real reason we close it during the winter is to process the material and do a burning or grinding procedure,” Lardy explained.

In February of this year the city did the first burning in serval years at the site in order to get rid of some of the excess material.

Lardy said the burning really cleared up the site and they’ve moved some piles around since then but he said there has been quite a lot of material brought out by contractors since the burn took place.

“We got a lot of the big material that was off to the east– the big, huge 3 or 4 foot diameter logs– they got burned up pretty nice. It’s all gone,” Lardy said.

As for what’s allowed at the site, Lardy stressed that no garbage should be brought out to it.

“We have four days a year where there’s city-wide cleanup so there’s no need to throw any trash or anything out there,” Lardy said. “Make sure it’s compliant materials you’re dumping out there. Tree branches to the east and the compost pile is to the west.”

Allowable compost material includes leaves, grass, plant material, straw and non-woody garden waste.

On the tree branch side, main tree stems, branches, shrubs and plant stalk are allowed. Branches should be cut to a maximum of 10 feet and trees should not be more than 36 inches in diameter.

Stumps are also not allowed because as Lardy explained, a stump contains a lot of leftover dirt and rock so grinding can’t be done and it’s also hard to burn them because of the dirt.

“They’re best to be buried on site where they’re at if possible,” Lardy said.

He said it’s not the contractors that are the problem where stumps are concerned, but those who engage in illegal dumping.

“It gets abused but hopefully people are abiding by the rules so we can keep it open,” Lardy said.

Right now the site is open 24 hours a day though in a recent work session the Fairmont City Council did talk about the possibility of limiting hours to help prevent illegal dumping.

“Again it’s for city of Fairmont utility customers only. Anyone that’s from outside of that is dumping illegally,” Lardy said.

Anyone who wants more information on the Yard Waste Recycling Site can find it at fairmont.org/yard-waste-2/.