In our two years in office, I've heard literally hundreds of angry complaints about trash-covered lots and litter-strewn streets. Overgrown grass. Discarded building materials. Abandoned furniture defacing side yards and curbs.

Then, late this spring, the city unveiled its secret weapon: Robert Palubinskas ("Mr. Robert" for short), our part-time Code Enforcement inspector trainee.

Palubinskas is Asbury Park's new residential garbage and grass cop, searching out jungle-length grass, untied tree limbs, overflowing trash cans, and "unsanitary property" - a technical term which Code Enforcement Department Head Bill Gray tells me translates into "a yard full of crap". (Long-time Code Enforcement inspector Nalin Carney performs a similar role in the business districts.)

And Palubinskas and Carney apparently find a lot of, uhm, unsanitariness in their travels, judging by the equally angry calls I've received from people who receive their summonses.

I have to sympathize with a few of them.

There's the wildly fastidious homeowner, for example, who routinely cleans his property all the way out into Sunset Avenue. Unfortunately, he recently received a summons for neatly bagging his grass clippings by the curb. ("Grass clippings cannot be collected. Cut and leave on lawn or work into flower beds.")

Then there's the equally conscientious landlord whose tenants helpfully dragged some fallen tree limbs to the curb in his absence, netting him a fine. ("Tie small tree limbs securely into bundles not to exceed 4 feet or 60 pounds.")

Of course, not everyone rates a head-patting on their way to court. One manager of a large retail operation whose customers regularly litter his parking lot and the surrounding area was incensed when he received a summons.

"But I clean the lot twice a week!" he told me. Sorry. Even owners of pint-sized businesses often sweep their sidewalks two or three times a day, as passing pedestrians ignore litter barrels and drop everything from hamburger wrappers to soda cans by their door.

"It's Business 101," Gray pointed out. "The better the town looks, the better it is for your business."

Code Enforcement is on track to assess over $200,000 in fines this year on indoor and outdoor offenses, and Palubinskas has more than covered his salary in outdoor fines - a record that many city residents applaud.

As for those repeat offenders who charge that Code Enforcement is an overly picky cash cow for the city, Gray's advice is simple. "Clean up your property and you won't be in here.

So how do you forestall a visit from Mr. Robert or Mr. Carney?

Residential trash collection rules are spelled out in the city's annual calendar for everything from appliances and cooking oils to hazardous waste and recyclables. (Visit Candy at the main reception desk in city hall if you need the 2003 calendar.)

Next year's calendar will also include trash collection rules for business owners, but there are a few main points to keep in mind: Business trash collection is provided on Mondays and Fridays prior to 9 a.m., and businesses can discard up to five bundles of trash weighing no more than 60 pounds each.

Merchants can also put out up to three bulk items weighing up to 120 pounds apiece. (Scrap metal and appliances must be disposed of at a scrap yard, however.)

Business owners must take recycling items (metal, glass, newspaper and cardboard) to the city's recycling center at 818 Springwood Avenue. Center hours are Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

City litter barrels must not be used to dispose of business or residential trash, and business owners must keep sidewalks and curbs free of litter and weeds. (Call Public Works at 732-775-0900 for more information.)

What is the city doing to help? We're currently in the process of purchasing a new street sweeper with an attachment for cleaning storm drains. (The Urban Enterprise Zone board is kicking in $40,000 of the approximately $130,000 cost.) And, at the urging of city Councilman John Loffredo, the UEZ recently purchased a mini-sweeper that will soon be active in the business districts.

City Manager Terry Reidy is heading a committee to refine street-sweeping schedules and alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules (check your 2004 city calendars for more information), and a city police cruiser now follows the sweeper to ticket cars that are improperly parked.

Further, Housing and Community Development Director Hazel Samuels and I are spearheading an anti-litter drive that includes an Adopt-a-Spot program, seasonal community clean-ups, and a soon-to-be-announced poster contest to raise city children's anti-litter consciousness. Check out asburyparkpride.com or call 732-502-5196 for more information.

And, finally, I'd like to issue a word of warning to anyone planning to complain about a litter-related fine.

Today, I joined a band of hearty volunteers who spent six muscle-busting hours dragging mattress springs, rusty pipes, broken glass, abandoned bicycles, rotting wood, concrete chunks and things I'd rather not think about off several lots on Ridge and Bangs Avenues as part of the city's third community clean-up.

And, while the kids in the party skipped off to go roller skating after the clean-up, I'm lying here feeling like, well, like something that Inspectors Palubinskas or Carney would have to issue a summons for.

So when it comes to policing Asbury Park's trash offenders, I've got only three words of advice for our Code Enforcement team: You go, guys!