New trash cans in downtown Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — It was a busy morning Thursday for a handful of workers with the Moses Lake Parks and Recreation Department.

All along Third Avenue downtown, they removed a number of old, brown garbage cans and replaced them with newer, larger blue receptacles taken from McCosh Park.

“This is to help with the increase in garbage that has come with outdoor dining,” wrote interim Parks and Recreation Superintendent Clayton Pray in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “The newly installed receptacles also match the rest of the units already in place along Third Avenue and Broadway Avenue.”

It was no small task, either, as the old trash receptacles — containers for actual trash cans — were bolted into the sidewalk. And to make sure the newer containers don’t disappear, workers had to drill holes in the sidewalk and bolt them down as well.

“This is what we do,” said Lee Willis as he lay prone on the sidewalk, unbolting an old trash can.

Pray said around 10 of the blue trash receptacles were installed along Third Avenue. The cans were refurbished and repainted and had the city logo added to the front last year, he said.

“They look great, they look really nice,” said Mary Davenport, the owner of Stella & Me Boutique. “It’s a nice little change.”

“I’m all for improving downtown, and if that’s what it takes to bring people downtown, I’ll take it,” said Laura Mayer, the owner of Art Garden Pottery. “I’m very thankful for any improvements downtown.”

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at [email protected].