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In Your Bill
The City of Allen uses the Utility Bill as a communication tool to reach out to our citizens by including information in the monthly mailing. The following links show all the monthly fliers and information included in the utility bills.
August 2010
Average Utility Billing Program
One of the best-kept secrets in Allen is the annual Educator Expo for community and civic education leaders and school educators! Mark your calendars now for Thursday, September 23rd from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the AISD Administration Building, 612 East Bethany. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the FREE resources and programs available through the City of Allen and other agencies. The Educator Expo will also include light refreshments and terrific door prizes! Register online or call 214-509-4551 to reserve your spot!
Keeping the pool covered when not in use helps conserve water! By using a pool cover, you can save 90 to 95% of the water that would otherwise be lost to evaporation. An uncovered standard-sized (16 ft. x 32 ft.) pool loses approximately an inch of water each week to evaporation. Modern pool covers are available in a variety of styles and materials, including automated models. The covers may also provide a safety barrier for children and pets, keep debris and wildlife out, and extend the life of the chemicals in the pool (check with manufacturer for details).
Other Pool Conservation Measures:
- Refrain from high water levels to minimize losses from splashing.
- Do routine maintenance. Check for leaks regularly and test and maintain the water quality.
**REMINDER: Overseeding with rye grass or other cool season grasses is now prohibited in our water conservation plan ordinance!
July 2010
2010 Trash and Recycling Guidelines
Boards and Commissions Volunteer Recruitment
Utility Bill Back
Electronics Recycling Collection Coming Up!
Cleaning out your closets? Here's your chance to recycle your old electronic equipment at the City of Allen's Electronics Recycling Day on Saturday, August 7, 2010. Collection will begin in City Hall's parking lot at 8:00 a.m. and will end promptly at 1:00 p.m. or when the trucks are full. Accepted items include computers, monitors, printers, ink cartridges, scanners, fax machines, answering machines, all phones, digital cameras, and small electric appliances. No televisions will be accepted. Participants must show their driver's license and current water utility bill to prove Allen residency. Take advantage of this service jointly sponsored by the City of Allen and Keep Allen Beautiful and choose to "Be Green!"
Want to save thousands of gallons per month using your automatic sprinkler system? Change your irrigation equipment to more efficient nozzles, install soil moisture sensors, use flow controlled valves, and/or consider a SMART controller. The City of Allen offers rebates up to $125.00 for upgrades to a system that conserves water. See our website: www.cityofallen.org or call 214-509-4559 for more information.
June 2010
No inserts this month
Utility Bill Back
Safe Household Hazardous Waste (Chemical) Disposal
Protect your drinking water source! Let the City of Allen pick up your household chemical waste (Household Hazardous Waste or HHW) instead of putting it in your trash or pouring it down the sink or storm drain! Remember...anything that goes down the storm drain ends up in the lake - the source of your drinking water. Some chemicals cannot be removed from water in normal wastewater processing. Chemicals in the trash can cause truck fires or, when compacted in the truck, can leak out onto the street and into the storm drain. Proper disposal is essential.
Did you know that since 2004 when the program began, the City of Allen has collected over 75,652 pounds of chemical waste? Just in the last year, 10,991 pounds of chemicals have been reused instead of being disposed.
To schedule your HHW pickup in allen or find more information, find us online at http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/trash_recycling/hhw_collection.htm or call 214-509-4500.
Proper irrigation scheduling saves $$! Cycle-Soak Method: This method of irrigation applies water slowly so the soil can actually absorb all that is applied. Instead of running each sprinkler zone for 15 or 20 minutes each, run each zone only the amount of time that the soil can absorb the water (which means it is not running off onto the sidewalk or street). Depending on the slope of the yard, this could vary widely from zone to zone. Each landscape owner will have to test their zone run times to see when the water begins to run off.
Once you have determined the maximum amount of water each zone can take before runoff, split the total irrigation time into two or three parts. This involves irrigating the zone, shutting it off to allow time for the water to soak in, and then irrigating the remainder of the time. Schedule the run times about one hour apart until the soil is moistened to a depth of 4-6 inches. The plants' root systems will reach for this deep moisture and will be well protected from the summer heat. By using this method, irrigation should not be necessary again for at least 3-5 days, depending on weather conditions.
May 2010
Utility Bill Back
DAYTIME WATERING RESTRICTIONS OCCUR FROM APRIL 1 TO OCTOBER 31 EACH YEAR! Irrigation systems with spray and/or rotor heads are prohibited to be on between the hours of 10 am and 6 pm daily. Hand watering or drip irrigation systems are allowed during this time, however. For more information see our website: http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/water_conservation.
Want to learn more about lawn and landscape care specific to Allen? Then check out our Sustainable Landscape Series offered each spring. Topics remaining in this year's series include: Sustainable Landscape Maintenance - May 15; Good Bugs, Bad Bugs - June 5; and Irrigation Insights - June 19. For more information call Andrea at 214-509-4553, or see website: http://www.cityofallen.org/SiteContent/56/documents/Flyer_Spring2_2010.pdf.
BY POPULAR DEMAND, ALLEN'S PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT IS PLEASED TO INTRODUCE RECYCLING IN ALLEN STATION PARK BEGINNING IN MID-MAY! A total of twenty-one blue recycling containers will be placed next to the existing green trash containers to make it easy for residents to make an environmentally friendly choice with their empty #1 plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Since sports drinks and water bottles make up a large portion of the waste stream in Allen Station Park, the Parks and Recreation Department is excited about introducing this opportunity to Allen residents. The recycling collection containers were funded through a grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Remember, BLUE containers for RECYCLING, green for trash!
April 2010
Utility Bill Back
Get in the swing of things and spruce up your spring landscape! The City of Allen has several options to handle residential yard trimmings, brush, and leaves. CWD provides tied and bundled weekly brush and bagged leaf collection and once monthly service for large amounts of loose brush. Residents can also access the Custer Road Wood Grinding Facility twice per month at no charge. Please check for important details about these options at http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/trash_recycling/yard_waste.htm.
Residential yard trimmings are recycled into compost. One cubic yard of free compost per month is available to Allen residents at the Jupiter Road free compost site on weekends on a first-come, first-served basis. Compost from Allen's curbside collection is also available from Texas Pure Products. For information about compost go to: www.texaspureproducts.com.
Proper mowing and fertilizing conserves water! First, lawns do not have to be scalped in the spring! Second, lawns should never be fertilized until the dormant warm season grass has fully turned green and is growing! This usually occurs after the soil temperatures have warmed past 65 degrees. Once you have mowed two times (the grass, not the weeds), then fertilizer can be applied.
Fertilize the lawn once in the late spring and again in the fall (while still green) to produce a beautiful turf without excessive growth (which demands frequent watering) by using a slow-release form of nitrogen in the spring application and a quick-release form in the fall.
Mowing heights: St. Augustine grass and buffalo grass at 3 inches; Bermuda grass at 1 inch; Centipede grass and Zoysia grass at 2 inches.
For more information on landscape and lawn care, please attend our Sustainable Landscape Series. Information can be found at: http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/water_conservation.
March 2010
Great American Cleanup flier
Citizen Observer
Utility Bill Back
The Sustainable Landscape Series is back!!!! Come learn the best methods for landscape and lawn care in Allen! Classes are on Saturday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon with different topics each time. Check our website for complete information, dates, topics and registration. http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/water_conservation
February 2010
No inserts this month
Utility Bill Back
Happy Valentine's Day!
City of Allen Solid Waste Division would like to send a special Valentine's Day "Thank You" to all Allen residents for their awesome dedication to the City's recycling program. Through your amazing participation, the City recycled the following in 2009:
- Curbside Recycling - 6,722 tons
- Residential Yard Waste - 4,891 tons
- Great American Cleanup - 46 tons
- Allen Recycles Day - 21 tons
- Electronics Collections - 28 tons
- Apartment Recycling - 21 tons
- Household Hazardous Waste - 6 tons
This extreme show of support has reduced the amount of waste Allen sends to the landfill by 29%!
Saving water indoors is a matter of changing a few habits! It takes one month of doing these things to make them a rountine in your life. These simple changes help conserve our water and insure adequate supply for the future!
- Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth or shaving. Most faucets run at 2 gallons per minute - you save 10 gallons in 5 minutes!
- Take shorter showers with low-flow showerhead instead of tub bath. A 10 minute shower typically uses 25 gallons, a full tub can use 50 or more gallons.
- Washing Dishes: Only run dishwasher with full load. Newer dishwashers typically use 7 gallons per load. Scrape dishes instead of rinsing in the sink if they are being washed in the dishwasher. When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink with soapy water and one with rinse water instead of letting the water run continuously.
The Sustainable Landscape Series is back!!!! Classes begin February 6 and continue to June 19! Check http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/water_conservation for more information!
January 2010
Utility Bill Back
Need a new washing machine? Replace that old one with a more water-efficient model and save both water and money! Water-efficient clothes washers use only 18-25 gallons of water per load. Traditional washers use about 40 gallons per load. With savings of 15-22 gallons per load, the average family can easily save over 6,000 gallons of water each year! Efficient washers also use much less energy than traditional washers because less water needs to be heated. They also have faster spin cycles than traditional machines, thus drivin gmore moisture from the clothes before you put them in the dryer. This results in additional energy savings through much shorter drying times. The City of Allen has a rebate up to $125.00 for qualifying washing machines. Visit our website for application and information: www.cityofallen.org.
Need some new (and simple) ways to give back to the planet you live on? Here are some reduce, reuse, recycle, earth-friendly, environmental ways to improve your green footprint in Allen:
- When putting the landscape to bed for the winter, put leaves into compostable bags and bundle tree and shrub trimmings with biodegradable twine for collection in the regional compost program.
- The HHW collection program picks up vegetable oil to be made into bio-fuel. Help fuel the Metroplex with your fried turkey grease! call 214-509-4500 to schedule a collection.
- Keep Allen Beautiful sponsors four electronics collections each year. The next collection is at City Hall on January 16 starting at 8 am. Put your old computer to good use - recycle it!
- Start recycling at home. Allen's single stream program collects household paper (office paper, junk mail, phone books, magazines); glass jars & bottles; aluminum, tin, & steel cans; chipboard (cereal boxes); and flattened cardboard in residential 95-gallon blue carts.
For more information on Allen's programs, go to http://www.cityofallen.org/departments/community_svcs/trash_recycling/
City of Allen, 305 Century Parkway | Allen, Texas 75013 | Phone: 214-509-4100 | Fax: 214-509-4118 | Contact Us
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