River Falls cleanup set for first week of October

The annual River Falls autumn cleanup will take place 4-8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3, through Friday, Oct. 7, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday Oct. 8.

“It helps keep River Falls clean,” said the city’s Utility Director Kevin Westhuis. “It allows people to gather trash out of the alleys, behind their garages, get it out, and get it thrown away.”

Located at the City Public Works Garage on 950 Benson St., the fall and spring cleanup has been a part of the River Falls community for as long as Westhuis has been working at city hall.

“It’s been here eight years, potentially 10,” he said.

The cleanup is provided for any resident who pays for their utilities through River Falls Municipal Utilities. For UW-River Falls students looking to participate in the cleanup, “Let’s say that you (students) don’t pay for your utilities, your landlord does, you’d have to see your landlord and receive a copy of the utility bill to bring stuff down for spring or fall cleanup,” Westhuis stated.

A large number of River Falls residents participate in the cleanup event every year.

“We get around a thousand people that come through every year,” Westhuis said. That is around 10% of the city’s 10,300 residents that are not college students, according to the City of River Falls website.

The service is provided by the city and funded by the CORE (compost and recycling) fee on residents’ utility bills through River Falls Municipal Utilities, according to the city’s website. This fee covers both the fall and spring cleanups, along with the city’s compost site and electronic recycling event.

“It’s so handy because I just throw stuff in the back of my pickup, I drive there, and just haul it out,” Westhuis said.

For more information regarding the River Fall’s annual fall and spring cleanup visit the city’s website at rfcity.org.