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If you want to transport the item yourself, you can take it to the Village Highway Yard on New Jersey Avenue. The Village Highway Yard is open Monday through Friday from 8am until 4pm. Additionally, on Saturdays between Memorial Day and Labor Day the Yard is open from 9am to Noon. Prior to bringing the item to the yard, you must obtain a one-day disposal permit at the Village Hall, free of charge. This service is only for residents and is not for commercial use. Proof of residency is required to obtain the permit. The permit must be applied for in person by the resident wishing to dispose of items. No construction debris will be accepted. You can contact the Village Hall at 631-286-0327 for more information on disposal permits.

If you cannot transport the item yourself, you can contact the Village Hall at 631-286-0327 at any time to arrange a pickup. This pickup service will be in lieu of the two normally scheduled clean-ups; Spring and Fall. The Village Highway Department will respond to your request within one week to schedule a pickup. Containers to be picked up can not exceed 40 lbs each. Construction and major landscaping debris are not allowed to be picked up by this service. You may not exceed one truckload per pickup. Pickup requests during the winter months will be performed weather permitting. Leaves to be picked up must be bagged, excluding the Fall Leaf Pickup Program.

The Village of Bellport has specific codes regarding clean-up and debris collection. If you are not sure of the Village codes, please feel free to contact the Village Hall at 631-286-0327.

• Mary Immaculate Church on Brown's Lane (bin in parking lot)
• Bellport Methodist Church Thrift Shop on South Country Road
• Salvation Army on East Main Street in Patchogue (The Salvation Army provides a tax deductible credit for donated goods.)
• Brookhaven Town Landfill

Grass Clippings and Grass Mulching

The Village Sanitation Department will not dispose of grass clippings either in containers or loose in piles. Do not put grass clippings in the trash. Leaving loose grass clippings on your lawn, or composting them in your yard, is better for the environment and may save you money.

Here are some reasons why you should recycle your grass:

1. By keeping grass out of the waste stream, the Village of Bellport avoids paying expensive tipping fees. Grass can make up as much as one third of the waste stream during the growing season.

2. Leaving grass clippings on your lawn reduces the need for chemical fertilizers which pollute our waters. Grass clippings typically contain 85% water, 4% nitrogen, 2% potassium, 0.5% phosphorus, and all of the other minor elements that grass requires.

3. Leaving clippings on the lawn and using compost reduces the need for watering, which helps to protect our valuable aquifers, the source of our drinking water.

4. Besides helping the environment, grass cycling saves you time. Studies have shown that the average homeowner saves 10 to 20 minutes per hour of mowing by not having to empty bags of clippings.

Grass mulching is also an option for dealing with grass clippings. Most  manufacturers now offer kits which will convert your present lawn mower into a mulching mower. In addition, if it's not already included, a special blade should be used and is easily installed where your present blade is mounted. If you have a problem finding specific parts from the manufacturer, there are universal kits available to fit a wide array of models.

If you decide to mulch, make sure that you keep your blade sharp and mow your lawn at least once a week. Be sure to mow when your lawn is fairly dry, which will prevent buildup in your mower and also will reduce clumping of grass on the lawn. When mulching, you should decrease your fertilizer applications, as the act of mulching replaces many nutrients back into the lawn.

Instructions on how to maintain a compost pile are available in book and video format at the South Country Library. You can also visit the Village Hall for more information.
 

Procedures For Successful Grass Cycling

1. Mow when grass is between two inches and three inches high. You do not need a mulching mower; however a mulching mower may work better. Plan to mow so that you cut only one-third of the blade off each time. In Spring and early Summer this will mean mowing more often, however it still takes less time overall than it would if you were bagging the clippings.

2. If it has been raining and the grass is growing like mad, raise your mower height for the first cut, then cut again a day or two later to normal height. Alternatively, you may bag your grass and dump it in a pile at the back of your yard where it will compost. Remember not to cut more than one-third of the length off the grass. It also helps to make your passes at 90 degrees to the previous passes.

3. Dull mower blades leave a lawn looking scraggly. Be sure to have your blade sharpened regularly. It is recommended that blades be sharpened once a month on rotary mowers.

4. Attitude is probably the most important aspect of grass cycling. Turf experts agree grass cycling works to benefit your lawn. It is important to give it a chance to work for you. Following the steps above will help grass cycling work for you. Advice on grass cycling is available by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County at 631-727-7850.
 

Composting

There is always a use for good high quality compost to improve garden and soil. Making your own compost is the best and and is also the cheapest. Village residents are urged to participate in the Village of Bellport's backyard food waste composting program.

Members of the Composting Committee include Jim Tripp, Dava Stravinsky, Anthony Graves, Art Cooley and Lee Snead. After starting the backyard food waste composting program, the committee found that home composting of food waste can reduce the amount of non-recycled trash produced by a typical Village Household by as much as 30%. Currently about 15% of Village households are participating in the Village's backyard food waste composting program.

The Village has received awards from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and from Governor George Pataki for this program. In addition, The Environmental Defense Fund, a national environmental organization founded in Suffolk County, ran a full-page column in its November "Letter" regarding the Bellport Composting Program.

Besides food waste, yard waste (such as leaves) can also be composted. The composted leaves produce high quality soil material that can be used in your garden. Some leaves and grass clippings can also be included with food waste in a backyard compost pile.

Finding Wood Chips and Mulch

Wood chips and mulch are available at the Village Highway Yard. Call the Village Highway Department at 631-286-9360 for more details.

The Village of Bellport will pick up leaves in the Fall for composting. The Village Highway Department will pick up loose falling leaves starting around October 15th until December 15th. During this time period, leaves do not need to be bagged. If grass clippings are mixed in with leaves, neither will be picked up. Any leaves to be picked up after December 15th and before October 15th, must be bagged.

Propane Tanks

The Village of Bellport will not accept any propane tanks for disposal. You must dispose of them at your propane dealer.

• Walker Automotive on Station Road
• JLK Auto at 152 South Country Road (They have a receptacle for all sorts of waste oil, including lawn mower waste oil.)
• Brookhaven Town Landfill (They also take used oil filters for recycling.)

Mosquito Problems

If you are having a problem with mosquitoes, please call Vector Control at 631-852-4270. The D.E.C. requires Vector Control to present all of their complaints before they are sent to spray. Please call them, as the more complaints they receive, the more spraying they will do.
 

Any person who owns or harbors a dog or cat shall comply with all Village laws. No person who is in possession or control of any dog shall allow it to urinate, defecate or commit any other nuisance on any public street, sidewalk, gutter, play area, park, golf course, beach, dock, marina or upon any floor, wall or stairway or any public or private premises, used by the public. The owner must pick up, remove and dispose or any such defecation in a sanitary receptacle immediately after same has been deposited. For the purpose of enforcing this local law, appearance tickets may be issued by any person authorized to issue appearance tickets and to code enforcement officers.