Fall cleanup comes to the KMC

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tony R. Ritter
  • 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  With fall in the air and another German winter quickly approaching, it's time again to spruce up KMC facilities and communities. 

To assist in the effort, the 735th Civil Engineer Squadron has coordinated a Fall Cleanup project Nov. 20 and 21. With the help of the 735th CES, KMC personnel are requested to tidy up the interiors and exteriors of base facilities and housing areas. 

"This will be an excellent time to tackle interior cleanup projects" said Staff Sgt. Ervin Caldera, 735th CES project coordinator. "We recommend you start organizing teams now to clean our facilities inside and out." 

The first of two cleanup days will focus on office and industrial buildings and areas. Inside, CE experts recommend thoroughly cleaning stairwells, entries, and carpets; consider cleaning out storage rooms, washing windows, removing cobwebs and perhaps even doing some minor touch-up painting. 

For facility exteriors, the engineers remind everyone that areas of responsibility extend 100 feet in all directions from all buildings - to include nearby parking lots and side-walks. Where adjacent facilities are far apart, greater than 200 feet, meet your neighbors half way where practical. For outdoor areas, they ask that you pick up litter, pull weeds, trim overgrown hedges, tidy plant and flower beds, remove fallen limbs and cones, and rake leaves. 

"I encourage all members and residents to get involved with this project," said Col. Don Bacon, 435th Air Base Wing commander. "This is our community, our work centers and homes, and certainly there are ways in which everyone can pitch in to make this project a success." 

For the second day of the cleanup project, the focus will turn to the base housing areas. Residents are highly encouraged to take advantage of the organized clean-up days and of the support being offered by the 735th CES during this time. 

The Housing U-Fix-It stores have a variety of tools available for area/building leaders and townhouse residents to utilize. The stores are located at Bldg. 532 on Ramstein, Bldg. 1049 on Vogelweh, and Bldg. 3841 on Landstuhl. The KMC Housing Office highly recommends that residents not wait until the last minute to pick up what they need. 

"Let's take the time to spruce up our communities, including the common areas like playgrounds, walkways and the areas around the underground trash containers." said Benjamin Hizon, KMC Housing Office deputy director. "Though participation is mandatory for housing residents, this is a great opportunity for us to get involved and show pride in where we live." 

Throughout the cleanup, the 735th CES roving trucks will be picking up bags at the curbside and hauling away or mulching limbs and branches. 

They ask that you separate branches and limbs into two separate piles at the curbside -- one for branches up to four inches in diameter and another for larger limbs. Also, place bagged weeds and leaves at the curbside, but away from dumpsters. Ensure that you separate rocks and dirt out of the bagged debris as much as possible. Litter and other garbage should be bagged and then disposed appropriately in the area dumpsters. All batteries, tires, glass and metal should be taken to the nearest recycling center ,(Ramstein, Bldg 5146; Kapaun, Bldg 2820; Sembach, Bldg 194) paper should be taken to facility recycling containers. 

"The 735th CES stands ready to assist KMC facility managers and residents in any way possible to make this fall cleanup project a definite success," Sergeant Caldera said. 

The KMC Self-Help Store staff would also like to remind everyone that they can provide grass seed for thinning areas of lawns and biodegradable bags needed for weeds and leaves. Facility managers may also check out hand tools, weed eaters, hedge trimmers, power washers, rakes, shovels and many other such tools that can help in getting the job done. 

"The KMC Self-Help Store has a large selection of equipment, tools and materials available to assist in making this cleanup a success." said Holger Graf, KMC Self-Help Store manager. "We are fully prepared to support facility managers and cleanup project participants."