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City Council takes on New Orleans trash problem, could cut sanitation fee for August

Councilman Jared Brossett has authored an ordinance that would do away with the sanitation fee for August. The council will vote on it next Thursday.

NEW ORLEANS — A truck from Sidney Torres’s IV Waste rolled along Navarre Avenue on Thursday morning.

Metro Disposal garbage cans that hadn’t been emptied in days were finally pulled in off the curb.

“In two days, it starts to smell and gets bad for the neighborhood,” said Lakeview resident Turgay Yildizli.

While some garbage will head to the dump, other piles remain, with flies making a home in the piles of bags that sit.

The trash problem Metro Disposal is trying to deal with is the talk of most of the town these days.

About 66,000 people are affected, from Lakeview to Gentilly, to the Lower 9th Ward and New Orleans East and several neighborhoods in between.

“I went to a funeral yesterday, and I got stopped three times with, ‘I know we’re at a funeral, but what’s going on with the trash?’” District A City Councilman Joe Giarrusso told a joint meeting of the Budget and Public Works committees.

Jimmie Woods, who owns Metro, reiterated to the committee that it’s a staffing problem creating the pickup problem. He promised things would get better by the end of the month.

“Do you know a number that will fill the void? How many drivers is it that will make you whole? It is 10? Is it 20?” asked At-large Councilwoman Donna Glapion

“A minimum of 10 right away,” Woods said. “Obviously we need more than that.”

In the meantime, crews from competitors, such as IV Waste, are helping to clear away the backlog.

Councilwoman Cyndi Nguyen has pitched the idea of cutting down pickup days to once a week while Metro catches up.

Neighbors weren’t having that.

“I’m outside picking up, helping to clean up from rodents, possums and rats. I don’t want to hear excuses. It’s not any offense to you. I just want my trash picked up,” said New Orleans East resident Kanitra Caston-Hill.

“Under no uncertain terms do I want my trash to be picked up once a week,” said Lora Johnson, a New Orleans resident. “I pay $24. I want it picked up twice a week. If we’re going to once a week, we should not be paying $24 for a service we’re going to be lacking.”

Councilman Jared Brossett, meanwhile, has authored an ordinance that would do away with the sanitation fee for August. The council will vote on it next Thursday.

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