The Champaign City Council is considering a proposal that would send crews to clean up the trash left by students moving out this summer at the property owners’ expenses.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to place the policy on next week’s meeting agenda for an official vote. Under the proposal, property owners with debris overflowing from their trash bins would be given a 48-hour notice to clean up their property. After that period, the city’s public works department would remove the mess and charge the owner for their time.

In the past, property owners had 10 days to clean their property. Because of this, trash bins overflowed and spilled onto nearby public walks, where papers and cans blew into the streets during move-in and move-out weeks. As the end of the school year approaches, the council hopes the adoption of the new policy will encourage landlords to keep their property clean.

Champaign City Manager Steven Carter said the mess reflected badly on Champaign.

“The concern is that this has become an acceptable standard for the community [and] for the neighborhood, and we’d like to change that,” Carter said.

Originally, the policy would have given property owners only a 24-hour notice, but the council decided waste removal services might not be available in such a short time. Champaign Councilman Tom Bruno said landlords should be prepared long in advance of move-out week.

“I think everybody has a one-month notice and, if they don’t, I’m giving it to them right now – right around the second half of finals week, there’s going to be a lot of trash,” Bruno said.

A clean-up job would involve a five-member crew and cost a property owner an estimated $400, according to a report put together by Carter. If the money is not paid, the city would put a lien on the property. The city expects to perform about 30 such jobs during move-out week.

In 2004, the city sent out letters to property owners warning them of the mess that could accumulate as students moved in, but there was still trash everywhere, said Susan Salzman, Champaign’s acting property maintenance supervisor. If the new policy is passed, apartments, fraternities and sororities will be notified of the change well in advance of finals week.

Urbana does not have a strict policy on waste pick-up during move-out week, Urbana Alderman Christopher Alix said. Under Urbana law, any trash left on the property would be considered a violation of nuisance laws similar to not having a mowed lawn. The Urbana City Council will likely look at Champaign’s proposal and decide whether to adopt it as well, Alix said.

Champaign Councilman Ken Pirok said he attended a meeting of Champaign property owners who did not object to the change.

“All of the reasonable property owners that were there did not have a problem with speeding up the enforcement, just with the 24-hour time frame,” Pirok said.

Bob Glasa, the chief operating officer of Royce and Brinkmeyer Apartments, which owns off-campus apartments in Champaign, said he supported the measure and the 48-hour timeframe.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this, but I’d like to see campus cleaned up too,” Glasa said. “I think 48 hours is workable and a good place to start.

But Steve Hertel, office manager of Roland Realty, which owns apartments on campus, said the problem was more with garbage haulers than property owners.

“There’s only so much capacity they can haul each day, and … they’re already packed that week,” Hertel said. “Sometimes haulers can’t even make their scheduled stops (during move-out week), much less make extra ones for us. I don’t know what the city expects us to do.”