Free radon test kits available

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — It’s not too late to test your home for radon, the second-leading cause of lung cancer.

The city Health Department has a limited number of free radon test kits, Health Director Maureen B. Lillis said.

To receive a test kit, call the department at 203-937-3660. A sanitarian from the department will deliver the kit and help place it in the home, Lillis said.

Radon is a colorless, odorless and naturally occurring radioactive gas formed from the natural decay of uranium. It’s found in rock, water and soil.

While radon in outdoor air poses a relatively low risk to human health, it can enter homes from the surrounding soil and become a health hazard inside buildings, Lillis said.

To learn more about radon, visit the state Department of Public Health’s Radon Program.

Taxes due now in West Haven

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — The second installment of city tax bills — real estate, personal property, motor vehicle, sewer — was due Jan. 1, and payments after Feb. 1 are considered delinquent and subject to interest, Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli said.

The 2021 supplemental motor vehicle bills are for vehicles registered after Oct. 1, 2021, and were also due Jan. 1.

Payments — full or partial — can be made by cash, check, credit card, debit card or money order from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays in the tax office on the first floor of City Hall, 355 Main St. The building has an ATM on the first floor.
Taxpayers can also make payments online at My Tax Bill. Sewer bills are on the same page but under a separate tab. Tax payment history can also be viewed and printed.

The fees for credit cards and electronic checks are available at Payments.

During tax season, taxes can be paid by the drop box outside the interior door of the tax office from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Do not leave cash or credit card information in the drop box.

When paying by drop box, the canceled check is the receipt.

Taxes can also be paid by mail to the Office of the Tax Collector, City of West Haven, P.O. Box 401, West Haven, CT 06516.

Anyone needing a motor vehicle clearance must pay in person by cash, credit card, debit card or money order.

To enter City Hall, visitors must use the west entrance on the Savin Avenue side. Face masks are strongly recommended.

West Haven sets recycling workshop with speaker from DEEP on Thursday

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — The city is holding a recycling workshop to educate the public on “what goes in the blue bin and what doesn’t.”

The workshop, “What’s In, What’s Out,” is set for 7-8 p.m. Thursday in the Harriet C. North Community Room on the second floor of City Hall, 355 Main St.

The guest speaker is Sherill Baldwin of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Baldwin, employed by DEEP since 2008, has been involved in sustainable materials management for more than 30 years.

The all-ages workshop will focus on recycling education and include a Q&A session.

Organizers will give out recycling and food scrap bins and raffle off a gift card.

Sign up for the workshop at Recycling Workshop Registration.

See the Flyer.

Schedule announced for bulk trash pickup, e-waste drop-off in 2023

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — The 2023 bulk trash pickup weeks are April 24-28 and Sept. 11-15.

West Haven residents are reminded to separate metals, recyclables and regular trash from bulk trash and put them out no more than 24 hours before pickup. Violations carry a $100 fine per daily offense, Public Works Commissioner Tom J. McCarthy said.

Residents are also reminded to “Put a Lid on It!” and use lids on all trash cans. Rain-soaked trash costs West Haven 10 times more at the dump, said McCarthy, adding that using trash can lids will save the city money by reducing the weight of trash and cost of tipping fees.

Bulk items include couches, chairs, tables, carpeting, padding and fencing, which may not exceed 6 feet in length. No building materials, tires, mattresses, propane tanks or hazardous waste are accepted.

Options for disposing of building materials include renting a dumpster or bringing the materials to a disposal facility for a fee.

Tires and mattresses are not considered bulk trash and will not be collected.

Tires can be brought to Town Fair Tire, 63 Boston Post Road, Orange, for a fee of $2.75 per tire.

Mattress drop-off at the city garage, 1 Collis St., has been suspended until April 3 because of safety concerns during the colder months. Mattress bags for curbside pickup are available for $25 by calling the Department of Public Works at 203-937-3585 or visiting the department on the third floor of City Hall, 355 Main St.

Hazardous waste can be dropped off for free at HazWaste Central, 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven. HazWaste is open Saturday mornings from mid-May through October.

Propane tanks can be brought to Taylor Rental, 304 Boston Post Road, Orange, for a fee of $10.60 per tank.

The amount of bulk trash per collection is limited to 6 cubic yards, which is equal to a pile of trash about 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4 ½ feet high.

Homeowners are required to rent a dumpster or hire a junk removal service at their expense if trash exceeds 6 cubic yards. Otherwise, trash exceeding 6 cubic yards will be left at the curb, and a $100 fine per daily offense will be imposed, McCarthy said.

To prevent a potential fine, property owners should familiarize themselves with the city’s trash guidelines at Public Works.

Bulk trash must be generated by the customer at the residential unit where it is collected. Trash will not be collected if it is generated by anyone other than the resident of the home.

Bulk items must be separated and orderly. Do not place them next to a mailbox or utility pole or close to a fence, McCarthy said.

Also, do not place bulk items in front of a vacant lot or home — they will not be collected, he said.

Details at Bulk Trash Pickup.

In addition to bulk trash, the city picks up metals, including household appliances, also known as white goods, and toilets. To schedule a pickup on their curbside collection day, residents must call the Highway Department at 203-937-3644 or 203-937-3585. Appliance doors must be removed.

The 2023 pickup schedule for leaf bags is April 15-June 1 and Oct. 1-Dec. 15. The bags are picked up on residents’ weekly collection days. Leaves and grass clippings must be in separate biodegradable paper bags and will not be accepted if they are in plastic bags.

The city also picks up brush that is cut into 3-to-6-foot lengths and tied in small bundles, no more than 70 pounds. Logs and stumps are prohibited.

Residents can bring grass clippings as well as bagged leaves and untied brush to the compost site, 1 Kimberly Ave., from 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays and, starting in June, from 6:30-11:30 a.m. Saturdays. The first cubic yard of compost is free with proof of residence. Additional compost costs $25 per cubic yard. Residents must bring buckets and shovels.

For a $50 fee, the Public Works Department will deliver up to 2 cubic yards of compost to homes in West Haven.

For electronic items, including TVs, the 2023 e-waste drop-off days are Jan. 14, April 22, June 10 and Oct. 14.

Residents can drop off electronic recyclables — typically anything that contains a circuit board or needs a battery — from 8 a.m.-noon at the city garage.

West Haven is partnering with Take 2 Inc. of Waterbury, a state-approved recycler and collector of universal e-waste devices, to collect residential electronic items on a quarterly basis.

The collection is free for residents who have such items as computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, modems, computer mice, tablet computers, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, photocopiers, fax machines, scanners, video game machines, digital media players, personal digital assistants, stereo equipment, telephones, cellphones, cameras, microwaves and other small appliances.

Anything that has refrigerant, including air conditioners and dehumidifiers, is not accepted. Those items are considered white goods, and residents are asked to schedule a pickup on their curbside collection day by calling the Highway Department.

Details at E-waste Drop-off.

For the e-waste drop-off, residents are asked to heed the following guidelines:

-Stay in your vehicle.

-Vehicles will be spaced out. Event workers will remove electronics from your vehicle. There should be no interaction between residents and workers.

-No mattresses or box springs will be disposed of at the moment.

-No smoke detectors, ballasts or hazardous waste — lighter fluid, liquids, paint — will be accepted.

-Electronic items left curbside will be tagged with information on the e-waste schedule and must be removed, or face a potential fine.

For the latest news and information, subscribe to the city’s Facebook page at West Haven City Hall.

WWII storytelling set at senior center

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — World War II historian Arnie Pritchard will present “This Business of Fighting: A Human Face on World War II” at 10 a.m. Jan. 24 at the West Haven Senior Center, 201 Noble St.

Orating from letters he inherited from his father’s Army footlocker, Pritchard will tell fascinating stories of Anton Pritchard’s wartime service.

Pritchard has spoken at several venues across Connecticut.

To reserve a seat, call the senior center at 203-937-3507 by Jan. 18.

City issues snow rules for parking

WEST HAVEN, Jan. 17, 2023 — To help crews expedite snow removal, Public Works Commissioner Tom J. McCarthy is reminding residents and businesses to observe parking regulations during and after storms.

Per the “Severe Weather” parking ordinance under Chapter 188 of the West Haven Code, police will ticket and tow vehicles violating the ordinance at the owner’s expense. Violators will receive a $100 fine.

Once snow begins to fall, a parking ban is in effect on the even-numbered side of most roads, unless one is posted with a “No Parking” sign on the odd side.

The ban is in effect for 36 hours after a storm. Residents are urged to park in driveways or designated private lots.

However, during an official snow emergency declared by Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, a parking ban will run from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. on both sides of Campbell and Savin avenues, Morgan Lane, Elm Street, Meloy Road, Second Avenue from Elm to Beach streets, and Main Street from Savin to Washington avenues.

McCarthy is also reminding residents and businesses to shovel their sidewalks within 24 hours after a storm or face a $25 fine “for each day that the violation persists.”

According to the “Removal of Snow and Ice” ordinance under Chapter 195 of the West Haven Code, people are given 24 hours to remove snow from sidewalks on and bordering their properties. Violators are subject to the $25-per-day fine, which is enforced by the Police Department, the ordinance states.

To report a complaint, call the department’s nonemergency line at 203-937-3900. Complaints are kept confidential.

McCarthy also pointed out that plowing or blowing snow into city streets is prohibited and violators are subject to a $60 fine for each offense, per the ordinance.

Also, residents and businesses with mailboxes damaged by snow thrown from a plow are the responsibility of the property owner. The city will only repair mailboxes damaged by the striking of a plow blade if there is visible evidence, such as paint or tire tracks.

Snow removal around mailboxes is the property owner’s responsibility.

Residents are also urged to help firefighters keep hydrants clear of snow.

For more information, call the Highway Department at 203-937-3644.

West Haven heralds launch of state’s largest food-to-clean-energy program

WEST HAVEN, Nov. 14, 2022 — West Haven is the first city in the state to offer a citywide curbside food scrap diversion option to all single-family residents, Mayor Nancy R. Rossi announced.

Rossi said the program allows all single-family homes — one, two and three families — to easily separate food scraps and have them collected at the curb in the same container now used for residents’ trash collection.

The city has received a $1.3 million Sustainable Materials Management grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to develop and launch a food-to-clean-energy program.

Grant Coordinator Doug Colter, who secured the funding for the city, said the state is facing a solid waste disposal crisis, as traditional options for disposing of municipal solid waste are diminishing or becoming more expensive. With fewer and rapidly aging disposal options in Connecticut, residents and municipal leaders can expect disposal costs to increase at the remaining waste incineration facilities “as well as out-of-state landfilling,” Colter said.

On Nov. 7, the West Haven Food to Clean Energy program launched a nine-month pilot project for curbside food scrap diversion. Participation in the program comes at no cost to the 16,000 eligible households.

Colter said the funding covers the purchase of special color-coded bags for trash and for food scrap separation for the nine-month pilot. It also covers the cost of educational materials — mailers, a website and a Connect mobile app — along with personnel to sort the bags and the shipment of food scraps to Quantum Biopower in Southington, where the food will be converted into clean electricity, he said.

More details at Food Scrap Recycling.

Informational Materials

The Downsizing Donation Guide: A Resource for Residents of New Haven County (PDF)

What’s In? What’s Out? A Guide to Recycling (PDF)