By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – Village officials are asking residents not to leave their trash containers out near the curb when pickup isn’t due because they are inadvertently being knocked into the street when snowplows move through.

There also is a warning residents that the contracted trash hauler, Casella Waste Systems, has found that some customers are not using the orange bags residents purchase, which pays for the service.

With a fair amount of snow expected over the next few days, Village Administrator Greg Thompson said that as the plows do their job clearing the streets, they might “knock snow into the containers and knock them over, and some will end up in the street.”

That could result in trash in the streets and containers being damaged.

People should not leave the containers out by the street all week, but away from the road near their houses until the night before pickup, Thompson said, and should bring them back off the roadside toward the house after pickup.

Meanwhile Casella has expressed concern that people are not complying with the rules for trash disposal regarding the use of the village orange bags. Some people are using other bags and putting them in the Casella containers.

“All the bags have to be orange, not just two or three on top,” Thompson said.

He said that Casella has begun auditing some trash containers before pickup to check compliance.

If they find other bags in a container they can refuse to pick it up, Thompson said, opening up the possibility of a village code violation against the resident for accumulation of trash.