DALTON, Ga. — Dalton’s “curbside appeal” leaves something to be desired, say City Council members.

“We hear that from residents. You can see it yourself, when mattresses and construction debris and things like that sit on the side of the curb, sometimes for several days,” said Mayor David Pennington.

Council members generally agreed with that assessment on Wednesday, but there was less agreement about what to do about the issue. Council members met for more than two hours at the Public Works Department to discuss proposed changes to the city’s curbside refuse pickup law.

One of those proposed changes would require residents to call ahead to schedule when to put rubbish out for collection.

“We pick up rubbish and yard debris every other week,” Public Works Department Director Andrew Parker said. “It isn’t uncommon for people to put something out just hours after we come by, so it could sit there for two weeks until we come back by.”

Council member Tyree Goodlett asked what residents would be expected to do with the rubbish until the Public Works Department employees could pick it up.

“Where are they supposed to put it?” he said.

Pennington said he didn’t think that would be a major concern.

“Maybe I’m living in a different world,” he said. “But take a mattress. You’ve been sleeping on it for a year. Why do you have to get it out of your house immediately? You can’t wait a few days?”

Council member Gary Crews said he hoped that if people call ahead, Public Works could schedule a pickup.

“I’d like to see us be able to collect things within 48 hours of people calling in,” he said. “I’m not sure what that would take, but it could be something we could work towards.”

Under current city law, people are not supposed to put out construction and demolition debris. But Parker said that over the years, at the direction of past City Councils, Public Works Department employees have picked up such material. In February, the City Council directed the department to start enforcing the law and not pick up such material. Parker said some residents are confused about what constitutes construction debris and one of the proposed changes to the law spells out that items such as doors, cabinets, windows, wiring, sinks, toilets and shower stalls should not be put out.

Another proposed change would limit residents to no more than two cubic yards of rubbish in each pickup.

Council member Derek Waugh asked if city officials might consider collecting a larger amount of refuse or collect materials not covered by the law for a fee.

A draft of the proposed changes would also have limited residents to no more than two cubic yards of leaves, grass clippings and yard waste. But Dalton resident Palmer Griffin told the council members that a homeowner might exceed that if they did a big yard cleanup every year. Council members agreed to drop that specific limit, but several said they thought there should be a “reasonable” limit.

Under city law, cardboard is supposed to be placed in curbside recycling. But Parker told council members that, with the growth of online shopping and home deliveries, the city is increasingly seeing people place cardboard boxes out with their refuse rather than breaking the boxes down and putting them into the recycling.

Council members agreed the city should not pick up cardboard boxes as refuse. But council members said they want to see the city set up sites so that people can bring cardboard boxes in for recycling. Parker said the Public Works Department has been working with the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority to create such sites.

“It’s going to have to be places where there is 24/7 (around the clock) oversight, such as fire stations or the Police Services Center,” he said. “Otherwise, it could end up like the donation boxes” around town that have often been overrun with clutter.

Last year, the council required those placing donation boxes in the city to obtain a license in an effort to reduce the litter dumped at the boxes.

Council members had planned to hold a first reading of the new refuse collection law when they meet on Monday. But Pennington said that “might be ambitious.”

“We may have to wait until our second meeting of June,” he said.