The South End Forum hosted multiple city services officials at its September meeting last Monday to give residents updates on the city’s efforts to clean up trash, maintain sidewalks and cut down on construction.

The Forum, a periodic gathering of South End neighborhood association leaders and residents to discuss issues affecting the area as a whole in a wider group, invited presentations from the Department of Public Works (DPW), Inspectional Services Department (ISD) and Streets Cabinet on what the city has been doing in the neighborhood this year.

Dennis Roache, the DPW superintendent of waste reduction, said the city was working with a new trash and recycling consultant to find better ways to handle trash storage and cleanup.

“We’re looking at all alternatives,” Roache said. “More containerization models where possible. We're looking at ways that we can keep trash on the streets for a shortened amount of time, whether that be to stop the trucks later in the morning to allow people to put more of their trash out, like it used to be. [The consultant] is going to give us a report sometime in November, and trash bids take around December.”

Roache noted, though, that any new trash contracts best fitted to the consultant’s report wouldn’t go into effect until mid-2027.

The Forum then featured ISD Commissioner Tanya Del Rio, who addressed several resident concerns about the city’s approach to off-hour construction.

Any construction work in Boston that happens on a weekend, holiday, or outside regular working hours is subject to a special off-hour construction permit issued by ISD. So far, Del Rio said, the city had had a general policy of approving most such construction permits, and subsequently revoking them if the construction proved to be a nuisance to residents due to excessive noise or other community impacts. That approach, she said, has now changed.

“State legislation basically says, no off-hours work unless there’s a good reason for it,” Del Rio said. “So we recently issued a new commissioner’s bulletin that defines what is a good reason for us to approve a permit. The things ISD is going to consider as good reasons include emergency repairs. There’s a building collapse. There’s a fire. We want to get that going really quickly.”

Otherwise, Del Rio said, ISD would default towards denying such permit applications. It would also require requestors to provide a justification for why off-hours work is necessary, a mitigation plan for community impact and noise, and an expected timeline for the work.

“What I’m asking for, from you as neighbors, in collaborating with us and making sure we enforce this correctly, is to report any work that’s not permitted, and any work that’s a nuisance,” Del Rio said. “Sometimes we might approve it, thinking the plan makes sense, but it ends up being a nuisance. We want to know that, so we can adjust.” She said residents can best contact the department by calling 3-1-1.

Finally, Deputy Chief of Streets Julia Campbell presented on the city’s efforts to repair and maintain broken streets and sidewalks throughout the neighborhood. So far this year, the city has repaved sections of 13 streets and repaired segments of seven sidewalks throughout the South End. It also plans to install a new crosswalk at the intersection of Albany and Wareham Streets later this fall.

What makes the South End particularly difficult to maintain, Campbell said, is its high proportion of brick sidewalks. Repairing a square foot of concrete sidewalk costs a bit less than $40. Repairing the same area of brick costs $75.

Some residents asked whether the city had considered easier to maintain brick alternatives, like red asphalt or concrete stamped in the shape of bricks. Campbell laughed in response.

"We hear very strongly from people that they love their brick," she said. “As somebody who’s in charge of trying to maintain these things, I would love and welcome a conversation about some alternative materials that are easier for us to maintain.”