While the Collegetown Neighborhood Council discussed updates on the Collegetown Planning Initiative and the installation of a traffic signal on Dryden Road at yesterday’s monthly meeting, the main point of discussion was the student-initiated Collegetown Trash, Recycling and Art Project.

Chelsea Clark ’10 and Whitney Larsen ’10 presented the plan that would “increase the number of garbage cans in Collegetown, make them visible, and add a recycling component,” according to Clark. “Garbage cans are not visible and students try to avoid paying for trash by dumping it on the street.”

The project also plans on installing trash cans with a small opening. “This small opening will keep people from dumping their own household trash and from contaminating the recycling,” Clark said.

To make the cans more visible, Larsen spoke about the project’s community artwork component to decorate the trash cans. This component would enlist the help of Ithaca schools, the Cornell Art Department and art groups in Ithaca.

“One of our ideas was to have an art contest for the trash cans,” Larsen said. “We thought we could also promote certain themes on the garbage can art.”

The city council members in attendance greatly supported the project and expressed their discontent with the city’s current efforts to pick up garbage. According to Ellen McCollister ’78, who will become the third-ward representative on the Common Council in January, “There is a lot of revenue generated here in Collegetown through fines and taxes, but for some reason that money never comes back [even when] garbage cleanup seems to be such a basic function of government.”

Tessa Rudan ’89, member of the Planning Board, agreed. “There has to be much more reinvestment in Collegetown. Everything goes Downtown, down the hill, and fighting to get it back up is like fighting gravity … and it really shows.”

McCollister commented specifically on the despicable state of Collegetown’s trash cans. “There are too few containers and the ones that there are overflow and look terrible. The timing of the pick up really matters because when this stuff festers over a couple of days it becomes a truly grotesque environment.”

While many members suggested an entire rescheduling of the city’s trash pickup service to include pickup on the weekends, they also acknowledged the many challenges involved in that plan.

Leslie Chatterton, Ithaca’s neighborhood and historic preservation planner, spoke of the overall hurdles the project might face. “These new cans may be used to dump household trash, and increasing and maintaining city pickup will be a challenge.”

Svante Myrick ’09 (D-4th Ward) said that despite the challenges, this garbage can initiative must succeed. “We need more trash cans. We simply do. If there are more roadblocks, we will find a way around these problems.”

Gary J. Stewart, vice president of government and community relations, also urged the students heading the project not to be dissuaded by challenges. “People always say students don’t do enough for the community. But, students are trying; they just need some help navigating the waters.”

Clarke and Larsen plan to present their idea to the Ithaca Board of Public Works on Nov. 18.

The council also discussed the Collegetown Planning Initiative after being updated on current progress by Chatterton. Chatterton said little had changed, and a group was considering Code Studio zoning and tailoring proposals.

Chatterton said that the city has numerous components to take care of before implementing the plan. Specifically, the city will have to contract out the writing of design review standards and a parking utilization study on Collegetown before the plan is executed. Chatterton could not guarantee that the first aspect of the plan, code work, would be done before the end of the year. “So, it is going to be a while.”

Myrick also updated the council on the progress of installing a traffic signal on Dryden Road. Currently, the design phase of the light has passed and money for construction is available.

“There is not much news since last month,” Myrick said. “We have permission for construction in the summer months and the light will be completed before students return to school.”

Additionally, the light will include a pedestrian push button.

The next Collegetown Neighborhood Council meeting will be held on Tuesday December 8th, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.