Conservancy volunteers have spent the past 22 years combing the Hilltop Reservation for what we call “leftovers” (mostly from sanatorium days). You name it, we’ve found it: bottles & cans, fencing, 55-gallon drums, iron / steel / plastic pipes, kitchenware, lawnmowers, mattresses & bedsprings, metal signs, office furniture, old clothing, radiators, rebar, roofing, rotting carpet, scaffolding, sinks, tarps, tennis balls, tires, toilets & urinals, window frames / screens, wooden doors …. with a piano, a merry-go-round, a water heater, a gurney, an autopsy table, a washing machine and chicken feeders thrown in to make things interesting.
To date, we’ve bagged, dragged and tagged more than 65 truckloads of trash and debris (since hauled away by Essex County and / or Verona DPW). We’ve also removed more than 10 dumpsters of concrete and rubble (demolition debris, fallen lampposts, stairs & sidewalks to nowhere), filled and covered 20 open storm drains, demolished 8 decrepit outbuildings, removed graffiti and addressed dumping (by both unauthorized vehicles and nearby homeowners). There are a few leftovers remaining — e.g., decommissioned water tanks, old parking lot asphalt, former shooting range — which are listed as upcoming to-do items in the Reservation’s master plan.
See sample photos below — and say thanks to the many, MANY volunteers who have pitched in to clean up the Hilltop!
Rusted Metal, Trash & Tires — (to view this gallery click here)
Leftover Concrete & Rubble — (to view this gallery click here)
Open Storm Drains, Decrepit Outbuildings, Graffiti & Dumping — (to view this gallery click here)
