STEUBENVILLE — Steubenville City Council told Sanitation Supervisor Bob Baird Tuesday that — like it or not — he needs to give serious thought to reworking the spring bulk pickup schedule so the Labelle and Pleasant Heights neighborhoods are last on his to-do list, not first.

Councilwoman Heather Hoover told Baird that the hilltop neighborhoods have the highest concentration of Franciscan University students living off campus and while their bulk clean-up is traditionally early in April, they don’t move out until weeks later — leaving mounds of discarded sofas and other debris curbside to sit for weeks before crews return to get it.

“I know that there’s been an argument…that we’re going to have people from out of state bringing things over,” Hoover said. “I don’t necessarily believe that that is the case and (anyway) I think those tenants pay a water utility bill all year long while they’re in school, so I think that they should have the right to that service… And I’m going say most landlords, when their tenants move out, have that water bill revert back to them so their water isn’t shut off. They’re still paying that water bill, so they should have the opportunity for that bulk pickup — rather than that stuff sitting all through May into June.”

Baird though countered that at the end of the day, “It’s the landlords, the property owners, who are responsible for the condition of the property.”

“We do have a lot of rentals on Labelle,” he said. “We like to do that first, because that is the heaviest lift, that is the biggest load, and it’s also the areas where we have the most abuse (of the free bulk pickups).”

Baird also suggested they need to be careful doing those kinds of things because rearranging city services to the advantage of a particular demographic — in this case, landlords — might be misconstrued as currying favor with a particular demographic pointing out that city employees had to go through ethics training and “part of that training was, ‘If you know something, say something.’ They’re very proud of their accomplishments, and they love to advertise it.”

“If an elected official directs or influences city services to benefit a person or a small group of people at the expense of the general public at large, that is the definition of corruption,” he added.

“I don’t like the accusation you’re making,” Hoover said, which Barid insisted he had not done.

“I’m not accusing anybody,” Baird said. “I’m just saying we need to be clear on what we’re doing and why. I’m not accusing anybody of anything, I’m saying that the reasons why need to be clear is so the city doesn’t find itself inadvertently straying into a problematic area.”

Baird said he was merely trying to point out that “it matters when it occurs because if it occurs at a time when a certain group of people would be advantaged, then…we’re at the door (of it).”

Council wasn’t swayed with councilman Royal Mayo pointing out bulk pickups “are a service the city is providing so we should try to have (it) coincide with when it’s needed.”

“I just think that a service you provide should be provided when it’s needed,” Mayo said, adding that “if we have to pass an ordinance, I’ll sunshine it to pick that trash up in May.”

Councilman-at-large Joel Walker said the change would benefit the city, not landlords per se, “because when that bulk trash pickup comes in April, those students still live there, then when they do move out that trash goes on the street.”

“It’s going to be on the street and we’re going to get complaints on it and everything else, so we’re asking you to change it so we don’t get the complaints and it makes the city look nicer,” he said. “We’re not doing it to benefit any landlords…we’re doing it to keep the garbage off the streets.”

Council also:

• Was told Parks and Recreation Director Lori Fetheroff had resigned, effective Tuesday.

• Voted to revert to a 7:30 p.m. start time for their weekly meetings beginning March 31.

• Scheduled a utilities meeting for 6:30 p.m. March 31 to discuss water rates as well as what can be done to alleviate the sanitation department’s fiscal problems which Baird had pointed out started when a previous council moved $2 million out of the sanitation department’s enterprise fund and used it to shore up the water department finances.

• Heard from councilman Dave Albaugh that the stream restoration at Beatty Park is back on track. Albaugh applauded outgoing City Manager Jim Mavromatis for his work in moving the project forward.

• Heard second reading of an ordinance authorizing Mavromatis to move forward with the sidewalk/pedestrian upgrades at University Boulevard and Wellesley Avenue, as well as first reading of ordinances authorizing the police chief to dispose of four used vehicles. Council also heard first reading of an ordinance amending the city’s codified ordinances regarding collection of demotion costs.