Fund Would Cut Costs of Local Cleanups

THOUSAND OAKS —  You can’t always tell by looking, but this squeaky-clean town has a few dirty secrets: Pigsty garages, scrub-brush growing out of control and the occasional eyesore property that eludes code enforcers’ eyes.

But it soon could get a lot easier--and cheaper--to clean up those messes, if Councilwoman Judy Lazar gets her wish.

Tonight, Lazar will ask her colleagues to send residents glad tidings of tidiness by creating a “community cleanup endowment fund.”

Money in the fund would cover the cash costs of, say, renting a dumpster for a neighborhood’s garage-cleaning extravaganza or brush-clearing day. The fund could also be used by individual homeowners, tenants or business people to pay for hauling away bulk items such as old appliances.

By removing the $100 or more price tag for renting a trash bin for a resident’s personal use, Lazar said she hopes citizens will be spurred to scour, even though Thousand Oaks is already known for its neat neighborhoods.

The services would be free to residents because the city already has some $1.7 million sitting in a little-known solid-waste management enterprise fund. A few pennies of residents’ monthly trash fees automatically land in the fund.

“There’s a lot of money in there, and we really haven’t done anything significant with it,” Lazar said. “I toyed with the idea of giving residents a rebate, but the amount wouldn’t be very significant. The next best idea was to try to make those resources available to help residents clean up their neighborhoods and their areas.”

The proposal “would promote a better-appearing community, possibly promote more recycling and improve property values,” she said.

The idea was an immediate hit with homeowner association leaders.

“The hassle and the cost are about the only two impediments to people cleaning up,” said Susan Witting, president of the 350-household Kevington Homeowners Assn. “If the dumpster is across the street, though, people will start saying, ‘Let me clean this up, since I can throw things out easily.’ ”

Witting predicted the idea would be popular in her neighborhood, which dates to the 1960s--long enough for some residents to gather a lot of useless stuff--and where many residents have to clear weeds and grasses as a precaution against brush fires.

Not only would the fund help residents shake the neighborhood pack rat out of his house-cleaning torpor, but it could also benefit tenants who cannot coax their landlords to spring for spring cleaning.

“I think it’s a great idea, said Cathy Schutz, a board member of the Westlake Joint Board, a homeowners association umbrella group. “I can always find things in my garage that aren’t good enough to give away to charity, and you don’t want them sitting around the house.”

The fund’s availability could be promoted through the homeowners associations’ meetings and newsletters, she said.

The only possible drawbacks Witting and Schutz could foresee were potential liability questions for the city or the possibility that trash bins could be left overflowing on the street if scheduling isn’t precise.

City staffers will tackle those details--and the specifics of funding the program--if the City Council members give the concept initial approval tonight. If so, Lazar is requesting that a more specific proposal return to the five-member panel by June.