Keeping it clean in the Fish

It was cold and pouring rain Saturday morning — a perfect day to cancel everything and hunker down on the couch with a good movie.

Yet, hundreds of “litter gitters” pulled on their galoshes and draped themselves in rain gear for the annual Clean the Fish cleanup day. Families and friends took to the streets and parks to pick up a winter’s worth of trash that “magically” appears every spring as the snow melts.

It’s not surprising so many came out to lend a hand despite the sloppy weather. Whitefish residents are notorious for taking pride in their town and rolling up their sleeves when needed.

Thanks to everyone who helped spruce up town for another busy summer season.

While one cleanup day a year is about one more than most other communities organize, it’s time to think about cleaning our downtown streets on a more regular basis.

It’s been noted in comments to city council and letters to the editor that downtown can become quite a mess after a typical weekend of revelry. Let’s face it, many of the people who come to enjoy Whitefish’s night life don’t live here and don’t take as much pride in keeping the streets clean.

A Saturday or Sunday morning stroll down Central Avenue can be shocking with the amount of broken glass, plastic cups, wrappers, cigarette butts and other more disgusting incidents left over from the previous night’s debauchery. More than once, visitors have commented to me on the excessive litter in the streets.

Most downtown shop owners do what they can to pick up their storefront and sweep or hose down the sidewalk. But what about the overflowing trash bins, and the Central Avenue bulbouts and public parking lots that are often left trashed?

Maybe it’s feasible to bring in a crew that regularly makes a morning lap down Central Avenue and through the public parking lots with brooms and trash bags in hand. While wrappers and plastic cups are merely an eyesore, broken glass is an actual hazard that needs to be picked up promptly.

A morning street sweeper isn’t a new or radical idea. In fact, many oceanfront communities hire a crew to walk the beach each morning and pick up trash that was either washed ashore or left behind.

According to the city, funding any additional cleanup service beyond what is already provided would likely require the creation of a business improvement district. But maybe there’s an easier solution that can be hashed out in the coming months as the city’s budget is finalized.

Town looks great today after our rainy cleanup efforts, but let’s think about keeping it clean year-round.

— Matt Baldwin is editor of the Pilot