Residents in Riverside are fed up with the delays in trash pickup that the city said has been caused by necessary repairs to its trucks.
The city has experienced unreliable trash service since the pandemic and a recent heat wave has only worsened the problem. Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said it’s become a public safety and health issue, prompting the city council to declare it an emergency during a closed session meeting on Tuesday.
“On Thursday, we will have a private hauler out who will be helping us on nine routes and we’re going to do those nine routes until we catch up,” Lock Dawson said. “Then scale back six, and three and then catch up.”
The city is partnering with Athens Services in order to alleviate the backlog. In a statement, the city said it was “committed to supporting Riverside by providing residents and businesses with reliable and timely waste, recycling and organics collection during this difficult time.”
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The mayor shared more trucks have been out of service than the number of trucks that are operational.
“One of the things that was a problem in our extreme heat that we just had is some of the trucks don’t operate in that heat. They just don’t,” she said. “Also, it’s unsafe for the drivers because they don’t have A/C and they couldn’t be inside.”
Additionally, the high temperatures overheated some service trucks, preventing workers from refueling with compressed natural gas.
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“At one time, we had not enough drivers and we had enough trucks, but we solved that problem of not having enough drivers with increased salaries and retention bonuses,” Lock Dawson said. “Now, our problem is the opposite. We have drivers but not enough trucks.”
