Newly Annexed Residents Worry About Piling Trash
(Memphis) Some newly annexed residents in the South Cordova area were concerned Tuesday about their trash bags possibly piling up for days.
The city of Memphis had informed the private contractors in the county of their annexation. Some residents also called their existing trash companies to cancel service. Those private trash companies then informed the customers they would do their last pick up at the end of July.
Several residents had their trash bins taken away by those companies on Tuesday, July 31st, but the city of Memphis has not yet provided new bins.
The city’s website said new bins are scheduled to be delivered Wednesday, Aug. 1 and Thursday, Aug. 2, with contracted trash pick-up to begin the following Wednesday, Aug. 8.
However, when Reba Claunch called the mayor’s service center, she was told that new bins would be delivered Friday, Aug. 3.
Claunch is the neighborhood watch captain of the Walnut Grove Lakes Homeowner’s Association.
The confusion has her and her neighbors worried about how long their trash would pile up in bags.
Describing her conversation with a receptionist at city hall, she said, “So in the meantime, the trash that I’m accumulating now till Friday, I guess I should bring to the steps of city hall, right? And she said that would be fine.”
While Claunch hopes for the best that she’ll get a new city bin soon, but the thought of possible bags of trash for four days makes her upset.
“Do I want it smelling my house up? Or do I want it smelling up my garage? Or do I want to leave it on the street and run the risk of animals scattering it around our neighborhood?”
Next door, Melanie Gardiner came home to find no trash bin either. These families with children say there is at least one bag of trash per day.
“It gets smelly. You could end up getting rats,” Gardiner said.
A city of Memphis spokesperson said the bins would arrive Wednesday and Thursday.
In an email, the spokesperson wrote: “Unfortunately, we have no control over contractors or the previous solid waste providers and we have had reports of a few homes where carts were picked up early. In those cases, we have instructed the residents to bag their waste until we deliver their cart. We do regret any inconvenience to them.”
