PINE BUSH - As Labor Day approaches, Kelly Eskew, Town Clerk of the Town of Crawford, has been fielding more and more anxious phone calls from residents asking, "when is Clean Up Day?"

Clean Up Day allows residents of the town to buy a permit for $10 (it may go up a little this year) and bring junk to a central collection point where it can be sorted into recyclables and non-recyclables and disposed of. The money raised by the permits helps to defray the cost of the operation, which has run to $25,000 in recent years.

In the past, Crawford's Clean Up has been a summer ritual, scheduled for a Friday and a Saturday. This year, due to budgetary stringency, Clean Up Day had been postponed while the town board looked at the town's finances and wondered if the clean up could be afforded at all. Indeed, a couple of months ago, the board had looked at a quote from Winum's Landscaping to take over the clean up operation.

In response to the phone calls, Supervisor Charles Carnes brought the matter up at the August 20 Town Board Meeting. He suggested at first that the annual clean up be held on Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3, with the Saturday session restricted to the morning, between 7 a.m. and 12 noon.

"That way we would only have half a day of overtime cost to pay. One and a half days should be enough, and it would be very competitive with Winum's offer."

However, Carnes's suggestion set off a debate on the board. Dan Flanick, Deputy Supervisor, voiced opposition to having Clean Up Day at all.

"It's not a necessity," he said. "It's an expense that we can avoid. In any other year, when we weren't facing such a tight budget, it'd be different. But last year we sold, what, 200 permits? There are 10,000 people in the town, and we have to look after all of their interests. We need some more trucks for the highway department; we've got trucks that are really old. I would like to use this money for that."

Larry Marshall also voiced opposition to the clean up. "Since it's not absolutely necessary, I don't think we should do this as a town."

Mike Menendez was also unsure about the wisdom of spending that much money on the clean up. "I'm not sure if this is the right thing for us to do, right now."

Carnes continued to press for a clean up. "This is something the taxpayers want."

As the debate continued, audience members Bob Marks and Jay Presutti contributed what turned out to be a key ingredient in the final solution.

"The cost is in wages," said Presutti, "So restrict it to the Friday. Or do it two Fridays in a row."

"When they used to have a dress sale at Kohls," said Bob Marks, "they had it on Wednesday. If you wanted the dress you made sure you got there on the right day."

These suggestions got the board thinking again. "If we can schedule it so there's no overtime, then I'm okay with it," said Dan Flanick.

Mike Menendez and Jim Licardi both agreed that without the overtime cost the clean up became a more realistic proposition.

Carnes then suggested that clean up be held on October 1 and 2, the Thursday and the Friday of that week. This was put to a vote and the board agreed unanimously.