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Lancaster expands community cleanup into ‘Team Up Lancaster’ program with youth employment element
Summary
Council authorized expansion of the city’s cleanup effort into a broader Team Up Lancaster program to address trash, graffiti, illegal dumping and related quality‑of‑life issues in targeted areas and to fund grants and labor; staff said some positions would pay about $17 per hour.
The Lancaster City Council authorized staff to expand the city’s tidy‑up/adopt‑a‑highway efforts into a broader Team Up Lancaster program designed to address trash, illegal dumping, graffiti, code violations and other neighborhood quality‑of‑life issues.
City staff described the program as an evolution of the prior tidy‑up efforts and said it would use a grant‑style approach to pair volunteer or community organizations with small grants and city support for areas identified as needing concentrated remediation. Staff said the program would not only address trash but would include coordinated responses to homelessness‑related issues, signage, and other code enforcement needs in targeted neighborhoods.
Council members discussed an intent to involve disadvantaged youth in some activities. At least one councilmember reported the city would “dip into the funds” to try hiring disadvantaged youth to perform cleanup work. Staff later confirmed a pay rate under consideration of about $17 per hour for paid youth positions associated with the program.
Why it matters: The program formally broadens the city’s community cleanup strategy to include grants, coordinated labor and a wider set of neighborhood issues. Officials framed the effort as a way to improve neighborhood conditions while giving young people and community groups opportunities and a sense of ownership.
Formal action: The council voted to authorize the program expansion (item NB2). The meeting record shows the motion passed with four yes votes.
What was said (selected quotes): A staff presenter said the expanded program would “target areas of the city that are in need and really sponsor that and and hit all of the issues, not just community cleanup.” A councilmember said the city would try hiring “some of the disadvantaged youth of the community to help pick up that trash” and that staff would “dip into the funds” to pilot that approach. Staff later stated the pay rate under consideration was $17 an hour.
Next steps: Staff will prepare program materials and grant guidelines and implement the pilot outreach and hiring elements under city direction.
