I was displeased to see that the yearly spring cleanup in Lewiston my be ended by budget cuts. City Councilor Mark Paradis says the wages and spending could be used somewhere else.

I think other ways should be looked into to save money.

The elimination of the yearly cleanup stops people from cleaning out their homes or apartments of fire hazards (mattresses,old furniture, paint cans, etc.).

I also saw in the same article that City Administrator Jim Bennett would like to make some changes in the way the city handles trash collection. He is proposing to cut off trash collection for apartments of four or more units. Landlords with those units could either pay for their own trash collection or pay the city a fee of about $1.35 per unit per week, or about $22 per month for a four unit apartment building.

I live in the city of Lewiston in an apartment that has four or more units so I and the other tenants will be affected in some way by this.

I feel the same as landlord Edward Toussaint that this would discriminate against residents of larger apartments. It’s all residential trash. Whether it’s from a single family home or an apartment, residential trash is residential trash!

If he would like landlords to pay the city for trash removal and, as taxpayers we already pay taxes for these services, wouldn’t that be paying twice for the same service?

Allen L’heureux, Lewiston