By Dave Murnen

and Pat Beaty

It’s feeling a bit more like spring.

Along with more flowers, we also have some additional dates for Spring Cleanups sprouting up. So we want to pass them along.

There’s nothing like a free trip to the dump — or to large bins placed in your community — to spur you on to great feats of spring cleaning.

If your community is sponsoring a Spring Cleanup — and many areas within Grays Harbor County are — we suggest you save yourself a few bucks at the dump by using it as a deadline for sprucing up your house, yard, garage, etc.

Yes, some of the clutter just needs to be repaired or tidied up. But let’s be realistic: Some of it needs to go.

With that said, take a look at these dates.

Dates for Aberdeen

For Aberdonians, today marks the first of your free days at the LeMay Transfer Station, 4201 Olympic Highway in Aberdeen.

The City of Aberdeen has issued vouchers for those who live within city limits. If you are a resident, you should have received a green postcard during the last week of March. This voucher is your ticket to a trip to the LeMay Transfer Station anytime between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. throughout the month of April.

(You might want to consider going to the transfer station today, because the Hazardous Waste Site is also open on the first Saturday of the month. It’s always free to take items there, but it is only open on one Saturday a month; so why not combine it with your voucher trip?)

Or, if it’s not possible today, consider planning your dump day on a Wednesday, because that’s the other time the Hazardous Waste Facility is open.

Dates for other cities

Many other cities have days planned. Take a look:

• Cosmopolis — Saturday, April 15, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. has been set aside as a free day for residents of Cosi at the LeMay Transfer Station. Cosmopolis residents must bring a paid water bill or electric bill or show a driver’s license to prove residency.

• Shoalwater Bay — The Shoalwater Bay Tribe is placing several large bins out in its community from April 24 to May 12.

• McCleary — McCleary residents can take their junk to a bin to be set up behind City Hall from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22. Citizens must show a copy of their utility bill as proof of residency.

• Westport — Westport residents will receive a voucher with their water bill for free dump days May 1-31.

• Hoquiam — Mark your calendar for June 7-10 for free dump days. You should be receiving a voucher in the mail.

You can’t dump it all

You can get rid of lots of junk through these cleanup days, but remember not everything is appropriate for the landfill, and a few things have an extra charge.

Here are some things you can’t bring: car hulks, paints, thinners, raw garbage, pesticides, car batteries, propane tanks, demolition debris, hazardous waste and large tires.

However, many of those items are suitable for the Hazardous Waste area. And, other items — such as tires and rims and certain appliances — can be dumped for a specific fee.

Tracy Elders, the office lead at LeMay Transfer Station, said the folks there welcome your questions. They can be reached at 360-533-1251. You can also check with your city hall for specifics about your area’s specific regulations.

Hazardous waste facility

As we mentioned before, not everything you don’t want is safe to put in the landfill.

Batteries can be recycled at a salvage yard for cash or taken to the Hazardous Waste Facility at the LeMay Landfill for no charge, along with cleaning supplies, old paint, solvents and pesticides.

This part of the facility is open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday, and from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month.

The limit for paint is 15 gallons per household per visit. (If an old can of paint is all dried up, it can be treated as garbage and thrown away.)

Getting rid of most hazardous waste items is free.

The Hazardous Waste Facility also accepts propane tanks for a $5 fee. However, if the shutoff is removed, they can be recycled for scrap at no cost.

Recycle glass, paper

Recycle everything you can to save your Cleanup voucher for the unusable stuff. (And you’ll also be saving precious landfill space!)

Your clean, dry newspapers, magazines, cardboard, aluminum cans and recyclable glass are all heavy and should be placed in recycling area bins at the Transfer Station. Also you can bring your clean motor oil here to be recycled at no charge.

E-cycling a good option

Computer monitors and screens, laptops and television sets can be recycled through the Salvation Army and Goodwill. These charity organizations turn your old electronics into cash and return it to the community when people need help.

Otherwise, you can get rid of electronic stuff free at the Hazardous Waste Facility. (However, this service of e-cycling is available only from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays.) They will assist in unloading your car.

No free day for you?

While many residents of this county have the opportunity for a Spring Cleanup Day, many do not live in a city offering that option.

However, we suggest you consider making a spring trip to the landfill an annual pilgrimage anyway. The fee for dumping at the LeMay transfer station is $96.73 per ton. That translates to $10.02 for the minimum fee for up to 200 pounds.

We think that’s a pretty cheap way to make a huge difference in the appearance of your home, not to mention lighten your emotional load and make your neighbors happy all at once.

New county website

We interrupted our series about the Grays Harbor County Assessor’s Office to let you know about these spring cleanups. We will resume next week with more information about property taxes.

However, in the meantime, we did want you to know there is a website tutorial available this coming Thursday to learn all about the county’s new website — including all the amazing things that can now be done with the Assessor’s Office online tools.

The workshop tutorial is at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6, for anyone interested in learning about how to use the new website. It will be conducted in the commissioner’s large meeting room at the county administration building in Montesano.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and to see some of the bells and whistles available to the public.

Dave Murnen and Pat Beaty are construction specialists at NeighborWorks of Grays Harbor County, where Murnen is executive director. This is a nonprofit organization committed to creating safe and affordable housing for all residents of Grays Harbor County. They can be reached at 360-533-7828.