City seeking volunteers for one-day trash pickup drive

The Blanco River comes close, I guess, but really there aren’t any rivers flowing through Kyle. That minor inconvenience, however, is not stopping the City from participating in an event known as the Great Texas River Cleanup. The event is the brainchild of the Texas Rivers Protection Association, based in San Marcos. The TRPA started it in an effort to clean all 90 miles of the San Marcos River including creeks and tributaries that flow into the San Marcos and Blanco Rivers. These days the event is sponsored not only by the TRPA, but also the City of San Marcos, Keep San Marcos Beautiful, Habitat Conservation Plan, and Texas State University. Together, these organizations set Saturday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, as the date and time for this year’s cleanup.

Kyle city officials decided this was a nifty idea and imported it to collect trash in areas around Plum Creek and elsewhere, although this year Kyle’s March 6 cleanup will begin an hour earlier and end five hours later than the one to the south of us (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Kyle will, however, follow the changes initiated by the TRPA due to COVID-19 conditions, the main one being the elimination of a headquarters for check-in. “We’re also encouraging everyone to keep their teams to a maximum of 10 people, wear a mask, and practice social distancing,” said Community Enhancement Initiatives Manager Amy Thomaides.

Five areas in Kyle have been targeted for the trash pickup. Three of them are in Waterleaf Park. The others are Cool Springs Park and Trail and Bunton Creek. However, anyone wishing to pick another spot needing trash pickup is free to do so. Those wishing to participate can register by clicking here.

“The City will provide gloves and bags to groups that will be distributed based on the preference chosen at sign up,” the City said in a statement released today. “Volunteers can either pick up supplies from City Hall between Monday, March 1 and Friday, March 5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or they can have supplies dropped off to the cleanup site they selected at sign up the morning of the event. They will just need to text 512-618-8296 when they arrive at their site. Once the group has completed cleaning their area, volunteers can text the provided number and a City staff member will drive to the site to collect all bagged trash and give volunteers pizza vouchers.”

The site for volunteers wishing to work one of the three Waterleaf Park areas will be 628 Abundance Lane. The Cool Springs Park and Trail volunteers are asked to convene at 115 Florida Springs Drive and the Bunton Creek volunteers at 980 Bunton Reserve Blvd.

“All participants are asked to practice state and local orders regarding social distancing and using face coverings when out in public or interacting with those outside of their household,” the City said in its statement.