Once a Week Trash Pick Up in Lawton Starts This Monday

Once a week trash pick up in Lawton, Fort Sill will officially start on Monday, April 5th (04-05-21). The City of Lawton and City Council made the decision to go to once a week residential trash pick up awhile back at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year due to expected budget shortfalls, but delayed action until now. However, the city is now prepared for this change and solid waste collection are prepared as well. Looks like the dreaded day has finally arrived, once a week trash pick up in Lawton, Fort Sill starts soon.

I think most people, myself included, aren't to happy about this change. I still don't know how this will supposedly help Lawton, Fort Sill. Those who wished for this to pass have stated it's better for the environment and that the neighborhoods will be cleaner due to the changes. Who are they kidding? It's basic math, with less trash pickups that means more trash is sitting around waiting for the next scheduled pick up. This will in NO WAY help or beautify neighborhoods. So what is the upside to all this? Well, basically it'll save the city some money, that's the REAL REASON we're doing all this.

Now when the announcement came last year that the city had decided to do this we were told it was for budget reasons and the city needed to cut back. At the time most people were willing and understood, especially with everything that was going on with the pandemic. It was stated that this was a required change and one that would help the city with expected financial shortfalls that would surely happen due to COVID-19.

Well shortly thereafter the city in it's infamous wisdom dropped 14.6 MILLION DOLLARS on the Central Mall purchase. Using CIP (Capitol Improvement Program) funds to do so. That money would have, and certainly should have been used elsewhere. I bet 14.6 MILLION DOLLARS would do a lot of needed improvements from roads, sewer rehab and all kinds of other far more important projects. I mean if we had to go to once a week trash pick up because the city couldn't afford to keep doing it twice a week. Why the hell are we spending 14.6 MILLION DOLLARS on a run down mall, that I seriously doubt we'll ever, ever, ever see a return on investment for. This isn't even taking into account the MILLIONS more the city will spend trying to fix it back up for the FISTA (FIRES Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator) project.

Now you may be wondering if you'll see a savings on your water bill. I mean what's fair is fair right? The city is reducing it's services by half, so surely they'll cut the current residential trash fee in half? Right now residential curb side is around $18.00 to $19.00 monthly. So will they now cut it down to $9.00 monthly?

I can answer that question for you right now...HELL NO your bill won't go down, even one cent despite them reducing the services received. I'll go a step further. I'm sure if twice a week residential trash pick up ever happens again, or if the city for some reason goes back to that they will DEFINITELY RAISE your water bill and change you double!

The only good news to come out of all this is the city's once a month bulk trash pick up. We're gonna need it! Below is the new schedule for trash pick up by zone and day. If you want more information on this change and on the bulk pick up dates visit the City of Lawton official website.