“It is what we need. We have taken back our own - Karen Washburn, Great Falls historian
“Why is it that Fairfax County can’t deal with this?”
- Tom Lion, Great Falls parkout user
As though to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit, three red, white and blue trash trucks showed up for the parkout at Great Falls Elementary School at 8 a.m. on Saturday, the morning after Independence Day.
In McLean, there were two gray trucks.
But both private parkouts succeeded, rejuvenating the spirits of some citizens who say they get fewer and fewer services for the real-estate taxes they pay to Fairfax County.
Almost 500 users signed up in Great Falls, where Garrett Preis, Mark Palameras, Calvin Follin and other members of the Great Falls Citizens Association (GFCA) formed Dranesville Trash and Recycling to replace Fairfax County’s traditional service.
Red, white and blue trucks painted with the name “American,” for American Disposal Services of Manassas Park, seemed thematically correct on the morning after Independence Day
There was one minor glitch: New permits had not reached the parkout’s 475 new customers, so their names had to be checked off a list when they drove in the parking lot at Great Falls Elementary School.
“They are delayed. We are going to get them out in coming weeks,” said Garrett Preis, the organizer of Dranesville Trash. He said 475 permits were issued by July 7.
“I WAS VERY apprehensive driving over here. I thought I would just leave [the trash] in the schoolyard” if there had been no trucks there, said one customer.
But Karen Washburn, a historian and real-estate agent in Great Falls, was rhapsodic about the parkout’s success.
“I think it is marvelous that citizens did this,” she said. “The participation was phenomenal. There was a huge turnout.
“Everyone did what they’ve always done. They dumped their trash.
“It is what we need. We have taken back our own again.”
“I applaud Garrett Preis and Mark Palameras,” Washburn said. “They did the community a huge service with their very, very hard work. They deserve huge kudos and many thanks.”
IN McLEAN, 175 had signed up by July 7, and the number is climbing for Cooper Trash Parkout Inc., initiated by John Theon and Dennis Lucey and McLean attorney Pam Danner.
That’s enough to keep it going for a year, though they’d like more people to sign up, said Theon.
At Cooper, there were two gray trucks, one for recycling and one for trash. Although it started later than the Great Falls group, Cooper Trash Parkout Inc. is now incorporated as a nonprofit, is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, leases the parking lot from Fairfax County Public Schools at a nonprofit rate, and is getting its own insurance, Theon said
“WE ARE VERY pleased with the way our contractor [Champion Services of Alexandria] has handled the parkout,” Theon said. “They put two men [on each truck] and helped people unload their trash, which we didn’t expect, but we are grateful for,” he said.
The new parkout went smoothly at Cooper School on Georgetown Pike at Balls Hill Road in McLean, where 175 people have signed up for the new service.
“I think everybody was very happy to see things come off without a lapse in service. I think a lot of people felt like this was a community effort, and it was a lot of fun,” said Joanne Theon, who, as member of the McLean Citizens Association’s Budget and Taxation Committee, had watched the parkouts gradually disappear from the county budget.
But in Great Falls, which has 475 parkout users, a few were still grumbling about Fairfax County’s decision to discontinue the parkouts.
“With the budget that the county has, and a shortfall of $9,600, they certainly could have found that money somewhere,” said Tom Lion of Great Falls, a loyal parkout customer.
“Trash collection is a fairly basic function. It seems like there are less important functions that could have been eliminated to make up for this.
“I think it is too much trouble for them, and it is not worth their time.
“The usual mantra out here is that we get very few county services, and the ones we did get, they cut off,” he said.
“I can’t understand how Fairfax County can’t make money when a private contractor can. Why is it that Fairfax County can’t deal with this?”
COOPER PARKOUT organizers are encouraging residents to continue dropping off their magazines and newspapers at the year-round recycling bin that benefits McLean Trees. It sells the paper and uses the profit to buy and plant trees in McLean.
For Cooper sign-up information, call John Theon, 703-356-1435, or Dennis Lucey, 703-448-6870.