Spring cleaning for Parks and Rec means picking up thousands of pounds of trash [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – For the next two months, employees of Anchorage’s Parks and Recreational Department are cleaning up thousands of pounds of trash left behind after this season’s heavy snowfall.

“Spring cleaning really starts when the snow begins to melt,” said Parks and Recreation Director Mike Braniff. “As it recedes, the winter’s worth of trash begins to emerge. And that’s when the effort begins for us.”

Braniff said his crew of around 35 employees will spend at least half their time over the next two months clearing debris from public spaces like parks. Some projects can take crews a week to clean.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the springtime, we spend in excess of $200,000 of our overall payroll in the Parks and Rec department just on spring cleaning efforts,” Braniff said.

The department said, on average, its crews pick up anywhere between five to 10 tons of …