BUREAU OF NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES
WHAT’S NEW
General Recycling Information
The City of Harrisburg’s Bureau of Neighborhood Services provides curbside recycling throughout the year. Residents may pick up blue curbside recycling buckets at the City Government Center on the first floor in the City Treasury office. A $5.00 non-refundable fee applies.
Recyclable materials include plastic jugs, yard waste, newsprint, bi-metal, tin and aluminum cans, and clear, brown and green glass. Newspapers should be bundled in brown paper or string; please, do not bundle newspaper in plasic bags. Curbside recycling should be placed on the curb on the same day refuse is collected.
The City encourages residents and businesses to recycle newspaper. The City’s “String Thing” initiative is one example. Read the complete Mayor’s announcement of “String Thing” program.
About the Bureau of Neighborhood Services
In 2004 the Bureaus of City Services and Sanitation merged to become the Bureau of Neighborhood Services. The new Bureau of Neighborhood Services performs the responibilities of both former bureaus.
The bureau provides a variety of services to the residents and non-residents of the City contingent upon seasonal weather conditions. For example, during the warmer months, efforts are concentrated on planned repairs and construction of city-owned streets. This includes general repair such as filling potholes, resurfacing and crack sealing of worn and deteriorating roadways and alleys. This Bureau repairs and maintains all city sewers and storm inlets. The sewer maintenance program involves over 130 miles of sewer lines that require video surveillance for potential problems or emergencies. Storm inlet repair is performed by first cleaning out the inlet with a vacuum truck, which removes lodged debris and opens the storm lines for proper roadway drainage, and by reconstructing collapsing or inadequate inlets. There are over 3,500 storm inlets in the City.
This bureau also performs organized neighborhood bulk cleanups, leaf collection in the fall and Christmas tree pick-up after Christmas. Street cleaning is performed year-round by crews that operate motorized street sweepers and flusher trucks that keep down the dust. Another project is the demolition of blighted and deteriorating properties. A four-man crew knocks down the property, hauls away all debris and backfills the foundation with dirt.
During the winter months, the bureau is responsible for preparing and maintaining safe roadway conditions in times of snow and ice, either by pre-wetting the streets with calcium chloride or applying salt and anti-skid materials.
The scope of responsibilities also include weekly refuse collection, recyclables collection and transportation to the Harrisburg Resource Recovery Facility. Residential customers are provided weekly service while commercial accounts are collected up to six times weekly. In additon, the bureau empties 250 sidewalk receptacles weekly. Special collections and neighborhood non-bulk collections are provided on a call-in basis in addition to regular weekly services.
The Bureau’s major revenue sources include collection fees and corresponding utility liens for delinquent accounts.
Contact the Bureau of Neighborhood Services
The Bureau of Neighborhood Services may be contacted as follows:
Department of Public Works
Bureau of Neighborhood Services
1690 South 19th Street
Harrisburg, PA 17104
Phone
717.236.5274