PROJECT NICE/KEEP 2008 NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANUP COMPLETED

From April 14 through April 18, 2008, a multi-departmental neighborhood cleanup occurred. This was in conjunction with the 23rd Annual Project NICE and the 16th Annual Project KEEP. For those people who are new to these projects, NICE (Neighborhood Improvement/Complaint Easement) assists neighborhoods with environmental issues such as garbage, rubbish, inoperable vehicles, dilapidated buildings, and zoning problems.

KEEP (Keep Environmental Enhancement Permanent) helps maintain previous Project NICE neighborhoods.

The 2008 Project NICE area was an area contained within the boundaries of South Minnesota Avenue on the east, South Western Avenue on the west, West 41st Street on the south and West 33rd Street on the north.

The 2008 Project KEEP area was contained within the boundaries of North Western Avenue on the east, North Kiwanis Avenue on the west, West 15th Street on the south and West 9th Street on the north.

Volunteers from various City departments worked together to accomplish this project. Residents in the designated areas of town placed rubbish and waste material at the curb. The men and women who assist in this effort placed the rubbish and waste material in front-end loader buckets provided by the City. The rubbish and waste material was then loaded on to City trucks and disposed of in the City Landfill or properly recycled.

Three street crews removed 187 loads of rubble, 5 loads of tires and 8 loads of appliances for a total of 200 truckloads of waste removed from the two neighborhoods. The clean up portion of the project was completed on Tuesday April 15, 2008. A decrease in the amount of waste placed at the curb for removal from the neighborhoods compared with the amounts of waste removed from the neighborhoods from previous years, as well as the efficiency of the City crews accounted for the quick removal of the waste items. High winds during the project week and poor weather in the week previous to the project week may also have played a role in the decease in the amount of waste placed at the curb to be taken.

The corrective action portion of the projects began after the clean up was completed. The neighborhoods were surveyed and any remaining violations of City ordinance were addressed. The Project NICE/KEEP City assisted clean up and the follow up corrective action portions of the projects have proven to be very beneficial for the City of Sioux Falls. The impact it has had in helping maintain and improve environmental conditions in many Sioux Falls neighborhoods are significant.

This project is one of the things that keeps Sioux Falls one of the best places to live in the United States.