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Smithfield council approves Sound Rivers trash-trap trial on Spring Branch
Summary
Sound Rivers will install a floating trash trap on Spring Branch with grant funding covering two years; council approved the request and asked staff to pick the final location.
The Town of Smithfield council voted to allow Sound Rivers to install a floating trash trap on Spring Branch after a presentation from the nonprofit's Neuse Riverkeeper.
Samantha Cropp, Neuse Riverkeeper with the nonprofit Sound Rivers, told the council the group's Litter Free Rivers program would purchase and install the device, and that a Winston Family Foundation grant would cover all costs for the first two years. "The grant covers everything for the first 2 years," Cropp said, adding that Sound Rivers would hold liability under the contract and coordinate monthly cleanups and community adoption of the trap.
The trap is a floating, anchored device that passively intercepts litter as it moves downstream. Cropp said traps are designed to let fish swim underneath and to withstand storm flows; she estimated the organization removes about 1,000 pounds of trash per trap per year in other locations and said typical maintenance is monthly depending on rainfall.
Town staff and council members discussed placement and flood risk. Cropp said the group scouted locations and recommended a site near Fifth Street and the community garden within the Spring Branch restoration area, and that the creek drains roughly one square mile of the city. "We think it's a good location for a pretty low bar of effort," Cropp said.
Council member Mayer moved to approve Sound Rivers' request "to install a trash trap within the town of Smithfield at a location decided on by staff;" a second was recorded and the motion carried. Council members and staff said they would re-evaluate the project after the two-year grant period and could discuss transferring maintenance responsibility or relocating the trap then.
The council asked that the installation and any contract clarify the two-year funding window, maintenance expectations and liability. Cropp said the trap cost is about $7,500 to purchase, Sound Rivers estimates roughly $10,000 per year for maintenance on their end, and that after two years the town could choose to assume maintenance costs, pursue other funding, or remove the device.
The council's approval directs staff to work with Sound Rivers on final siting and contract language and to return with any required documentation as the installation proceeds.
