City of Yelm Spring Cleanup event set for May 17

The City of Yelm is looking to open up its Spring Cleanup event to more than residents residing within city limits, as for the first time in event history residents within the 98597 ZIP code will be able to attend the free activity on Saturday, May 17.

From 8 a.m. until dumpsters are full, residents of Yelm and the 98597 ZIP code — with proof of address through ID or mail — are welcome to stop by Yelm’s Public Works facility, located 901 Rhoton Road SE.

Cody Colt, Yelm’s director of public works, said dumpsters are typically full around 2 p.m., so those planning to dispose of large items around their homes should plan accordingly. He added there’s typically a line of 20 or so cars outside of public works prior to the event beginning at 8 a.m. and a constant stream of attendees throughout the day.

“Anyone can bring their larger ticket items like old furniture, dressers, stuff that’s trashed and there’s nowhere to take it. They can bring it to our building. We’ve opened it to anyone in the 98597 ZIP code. If you have that ZIP code, and you can prove it through your ID or a piece of mail, we’ll let you come and dump for free,” Colt said. “I’ve never seen anyone wait longer than 20 minutes, unless they showed up early and were waiting for us to open. Last year, we had about 300 cars come through. We’re hoping to double that because we had room for about double that last year. We’ll have 11 of the very large dumpsters this year.”

Colt added that Yelm is able to make this event occur annually because of multiple partnerships between agencies in the region, including LeMay and the Thurston County Solid Waste Council.

“This is in partnership with LeMay. They take it to their actual dumpsite and dump it there. With our partnership with LeMay and Thurston County Solid Waste Council, we’re able to do all of this,” he said. “It doesn’t cost us anything. It’s part of the agreement so LeMay can service Yelm. They provide us with these dumpsters yearly, and provide us with some other really cool things.”

In the past, Yelm’s Spring Cleanup event was only available for City of Yelm rate payers, according to Colt, but now the event will include folks residing in the Clearwood and Bald Hill region.

“It’s really great to include everyone out there, especially when you have people that come into town and spend money, providing tax revenue. Now they actually get to see a benefit of that kind of thing, and we can help support them,” Colt said. “They are our greater community and they do frequent our town, so I think it’s important to include them as much as we can.”

In the week leading up to the Spring Cleanup event, Colt said City of Yelm representatives will travel to the homes of elderly or disabled, residing within the city or 98597 ZIP code, to collect items for the annual activity. He noted there’s still space available for seniors to sign up for collection, and that they can call the City of Yelm or visit its website and check its Spring Cleanup section.

“The week of, we will go to any senior resident of the City of Yelm that can’t make it to the event,” Colt said. “Maybe they’re older or disabled and can’t carry larger items, we’ll go and pick up the items for them to bring to this. We still have some spots left for that.”