Lynn testing new locking trash cans

LYNN – Fifty-five gallon garbage cans with locking tops are being tested on the city’s streets to see if they are the answer to the downtown area’s trash problem.”We put some on Mount Vernon in Central Square and Exchange Street,” said Ward 5 City Councilor Brendan Crighton.Crighton serves as chairman of the Central Business District Committee which has been mulling how best to tackle the issue of trash along Market Street and in other downtown areas.The ornamental trash cans that once lined Market Street were removed earlier this year by the Department of Public Works at the suggestion of Community Development after they proved inadequate. Community Development Director James Marsh said the cans were too small and constantly overflowing, did not hold up well to rodents and became dumping grounds for household trash from area residents.Crighton said it was Marsh and Public Works Deputy Superintendent Lisa Nerich who both suggested the larger, capped cans. The test models are black with a dome top that locks onto the can to prevent people from removing the top to toss in larger items. The dome has a swinging door that is “large enough to encourage people to put trash in but small enough to discourage large quantities of trash,” Crighton explained.Marsh said he is hoping to make the barrels a little more aesthetically pleasing by adding signs to the front that would be created by local artist or sponsored by local businesses. The signs would remind downtown patrons and residents to keep the city clean, he said.”We’re still formulating the plan,” he added.Crighton said he likes the idea of creating a partnership with local businesses to advertise or simply sponsor a can but initially he just wants to see if the new cans better address the long standing trash issue.”We’ll try them out in a few locations and see,” he said. “And we can keep talking to local residents to hear their ideas.”Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].