Siesta residents work to clean up the village

This weekend’s Siesta Fiesta is a harbinger of the end of tourist season on Siesta Key, a fond farewell to spring breakers and visitors to the island.

Siesta Key Association President Michael Shay is noticing other signs around Siesta Key Village that indicate seasonal activity is beginning to die down. For one, there isn’t as long of a line for Meaney’s Mini Donuts.

Even if tourists are beginning to depart, residents and businesses are still taking note of the trash visitors leave in their wake. Overflowing pails can be found near the center at the gazebo and litter dots the municipal lot. 

During a Siesta Key Village Association meeting Tuesday, Shay gave an update on the status of trash management in the village. He acknowledged that there is an occasional garbage backlog, but said crews are working daily to clean up the district.

“If you come in the morning, you’re going to see that the pails are full, but they’re emptied that day,” Shay said. “After a busy weekend, you might see the full pails, but that’s natural. Even on Easter Sunday, they were here.”

Some residents are taking matters into their own hands — and trash claws — during their morning walks. Larry Brady occasionally walks from his condo at Whispering Sands to the village with a trash-picking arm, grabbing the waste he spots along the way. 

“They do a good job — I see the guys every morning when I walk down Ocean Boulevard,” said Brady of the Village’s trash contractor, Buccaneer Landscape Management. “If they would do more weekend pickups, that would help.”

Palm Island resident Don Harthoorn walks down Canal Road to the gazebo at Ocean Boulevard every morning. He’s usually in the village before Buccaneer staff empties the trash cans, which gives him an opportunity to help the professionals. During the last weeks of March, Harthoorn filled two 13-gallon trash bags at that intersection.

“When I arrive up there at the gazebo and I see drink and food containers all over the place, I think, ‘If I drove in there and came up to that four-way stop the first time I was ever in town, I would be disappointed.’”

Currently, the Siesta Key Village Association is in the second year of a three-year contract with Buccaneer Landscape Management. Buccaneer is responsible for trash collection, landscape maintenance, sidewalk cleaning and other duties throughout the village.

Buccaneer staff empties bags from 48 pails around the village every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Although an exact amount of garbage couldn’t be determined, those pails are “usually really full,” according to Buccaneer branch manager Tim Ashcroft.

“By all accounts, everything that they’ve been doing has been up to speed,” Shay said during Tuesday’s meeting. “Any issues that we have on the walkthrough are immediately taken care of by the next walkthrough.”

Shay has suggested adding curbside recycling to the village could help alleviate collection issues. Under the current contract, which could be extended for up to two more years, that isn’t allowed.

“I was informed that we can’t add anything new to the Buccaneer contract,” Shay said.