By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- On Beacon Hill streets, rats gnaw and dig through garbage bags, then scurry across the street. The homeless separate cans and bottle from the trash, despositing their loot for nickels and dimes at registered redemption centers.
As a result, trash pickup and street cleaning have become a major concern of Beacon Hill residents.
"Beacon Hill homes and buildings do not have alleys," said Michelle Snyder, an aide for City Councilor Michael Ross, who represents the neighborhood. "Therefore, garbage is placed out front on sidewalks right off of the street, making trash pickup a major issue."
Everywhere on Beacon Hill, trash pickup is at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and saturday mornings. According to the state sanitary code, trash can only be placed out on the day of collection, or, no earlier than midnight the day before.
"A lot of people put their trash out earlier than they're supposed to," said Donna Petro, president of the Beacon Hill Business Association. "This leads to problems like rats, and takes away from the beauty of our neighborhood."
Residents say that they don't follow regulations because the times allotted for trash pickup combined with state regulations are a nuisance.
"People put their trash out earlier than they're supposed to because waiting until after midnight is an inconvenience," said Alison Gilchrist, a 21 year-old Suffolk University student and Grove Street resident. "We have a small window of time to legally put our trash out."
Using proper bags is also necessary to avoid rodent problems. Many residents put their trash in grocery bags that cannot properly be secured, making tha trash more accessible to rats and the homeless.
Joe Green, the 38-year-old manager of Store 24 on Cambridge Street and vice president of the Beacon Hill Business Association, is chairman of the association's clean streets committee. The committee, he said, monitors the area's trash and mediates between business, residents and City Hall.
When trash regulations are violated, the city gives illegally placed trash bags a green ticket worth a $25 fine.
"The problem is nothing happens when you get a green ticket," Green said. "It is unenforceable, because they aren't always addressed to anybody in particular."
With parking tickets, the city can access all off someone's information from the car's registration. But trash tickets are anonymous - trash does not tell the city anything about the person.
For a one-family building, the city knows to give the ticket to the one family in the building, but for multi-family buildings, it is never obvious who deserves the ticket, Green said. Sometimes the building owner gets the ticket, but the fine usually goes unpaid.
To counter uncollected fines, Councilor Ross suggested a lien go on the building permits. Members of the clean streets committee, however, proposed that adding the fines to quarterly tax bills would have more impact. Changes have yet to be made as concerned parties continue to discuss how to fix the situation.
"Of course we need to raise the fines first," Green said. "Right now, they are too low to even be a nusiance. The way we are doing it right now just isn't working."
Just Part of the Neighborhood
By William Hinkle
BEACON HILL -- When Donna Petro moved to Beacon Hill three weeks ago, the first thing she did was sell her car. Living and working in the same neighborhood allows her to walk to work, often stopping to chat with neighbors and customers.
"I have to leave a little bit earlier because I always run into people, but I love it because Beacon Hill really is just a neighborhood that has a close, family feel to it," Petro said.
For Petro, president of the Beacon Hill Business Association, cultivating a sense of community is essential to her work with the association and as the vice president and branch manager of Cambridge Trust, located a few doors down from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Street.
Born in Chelsea and raised in Waltham, Petro began working at Cambridge Trust five years ago. Prior to that, she worked at HSBC in New York for about twenty years.
"The change was a culture shock to me, because I went from a huge company to a small one," Petro said. "I love it though, because my background and training is in being involved with a community."
Cambridge Trust's customer service provides amenities to clients such as the dog bone-shaped can full of dog treats on Petro's desk and a water dish at the door.
"Dogs sometimes pull customers who don't need to go to the bank into the office, because they remember how well we take care of them," Petro said.
There is a relaxed approach in the small, one-room branch said Basharat Sheikh, the assistant branch manner at the Beacon Street Cambridge Trust. The relaxed approach translates into a friendly atmosphere that can be attributed to Petro's willingness to laugh and her amiable approach to clients and co-workers alike.
"We are good at what we do because we can laugh and have fun," Petro said.
In addition to her position at Cambridge Trust, Petro's membership of the all-volunteer Beacon Hill Business Association for the past four and a half years made her a part of the neighborhood. In January, she began her stint as the association's president. She was chosen, she said, because of her experience as treasurer for the past three years.
John Delano, treasurer of the association and owner of Delano Insurance, is confident Petro will excel in her new position.
"Donna is a great listener, and thus has a grasp of what is going on in the business community, as well as among residents," he said.
Petro's sense of community extends well beyond her work and Beacon Hill. Her two passions, she said, are her two grandsons and the Boston Red Sox. Although her grandsons, ages 5 and 4, live in Texas, Petro instilled a sense of pride in her hometown in them, teaching them to be die-hard Red Sox fans. Because of her strong sense of community, the people in Petro's life are always made to feel like a member of her neighborhood.
BEACON HILL -- When Donna Petro moved to Beacon Hill three weeks ago, the first thing she did was sell her car. Living and working in the same neighborhood allows her to walk to work, often stopping to chat with neighbors and customers.
"I have to leave a little bit earlier because I always run into people, but I love it because Beacon Hill really is just a neighborhood that has a close, family feel to it," Petro said.
For Petro, president of the Beacon Hill Business Association, cultivating a sense of community is essential to her work with the association and as the vice president and branch manager of Cambridge Trust, located a few doors down from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Street.
Born in Chelsea and raised in Waltham, Petro began working at Cambridge Trust five years ago. Prior to that, she worked at HSBC in New York for about twenty years.
"The change was a culture shock to me, because I went from a huge company to a small one," Petro said. "I love it though, because my background and training is in being involved with a community."
Cambridge Trust's customer service provides amenities to clients such as the dog bone-shaped can full of dog treats on Petro's desk and a water dish at the door.
"Dogs sometimes pull customers who don't need to go to the bank into the office, because they remember how well we take care of them," Petro said.
There is a relaxed approach in the small, one-room branch said Basharat Sheikh, the assistant branch manner at the Beacon Street Cambridge Trust. The relaxed approach translates into a friendly atmosphere that can be attributed to Petro's willingness to laugh and her amiable approach to clients and co-workers alike.
"We are good at what we do because we can laugh and have fun," Petro said.
In addition to her position at Cambridge Trust, Petro's membership of the all-volunteer Beacon Hill Business Association for the past four and a half years made her a part of the neighborhood. In January, she began her stint as the association's president. She was chosen, she said, because of her experience as treasurer for the past three years.
John Delano, treasurer of the association and owner of Delano Insurance, is confident Petro will excel in her new position.
"Donna is a great listener, and thus has a grasp of what is going on in the business community, as well as among residents," he said.
Petro's sense of community extends well beyond her work and Beacon Hill. Her two passions, she said, are her two grandsons and the Boston Red Sox. Although her grandsons, ages 5 and 4, live in Texas, Petro instilled a sense of pride in her hometown in them, teaching them to be die-hard Red Sox fans. Because of her strong sense of community, the people in Petro's life are always made to feel like a member of her neighborhood.
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