EASTHAMPTON — Disgruntled County Waste customers who say their trash has been left to fester on the curb several times this summer will have their complaints aired in public next month as the hauling company seeks to renew its license.
County Waste customers in Easthampton have taken to social media to complain about alleged poor service. They say the company has on several occasions neglected to pick up trash, forcing customers to wait up to a week to have their garbage cans collected.
Similar woes have been reported to the Gazette by Belchertown residents.
The Easthampton Board of Health will discuss the matter Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Municipal Building as County Waste seeks to renew its annual permit. The public is invited to the meeting.
The Heath Department has received about a dozen complaints from residents about the company, according to Heath Agent Jackie Duda.
Officials ask that residents submit complaints prior to the meeting by phone at 529-1430 or health2@easthampton.org.
Austin Rogers, an Easthampton resident who’s been a County Waste customer for three years, said he’s seen service by the company deteriorate in that time.
“It’s been inconsistent service,” he said. “We got their service because it’s the cheapest one. We appreciate that, we don’t want that to change. But we pay for weekly service and we don’t always get weekly service.”
There’s been at least three instances this summer that County Waste has failed to pick up Rogers’ bins, he said, something that’s also happened in the past.
When he has called to report the missed pickups, Rogers said representatives have told him to place trash bags that won’t fit in the barrel on the street for the following week’s pickup.
And his and his neighbors’ occasional overflowing recycling bins make for a messy situation.
“Every time I mow my lawn I have to pick up a bunch of trash,” he said.
In Belchertown, Edwina Cruise of North Gulf Road said she, too, has seen her County Waste service slowly deteriorate since becoming a customer several years ago. Among her chief complaints is what she says is an erratic pickup schedule and lack of communication from the company about holiday scheduling.
“You’re never really sure what day the garbage is going to be picked up,” she said.
The company most recently missed a pickup earlier this month. A company representative told her pickup would be delayed for at least a day. That turned into a week. But still, she’s able to put the stinky problem into perspective.
“It was very inconvenient to have the garbage out in hot weather,” she said. But “the world is in turmoil — my garbage is way on the back burner.”
Reached by phone Wednesday, County Waste regional manager Steven LaFollette said the recent problems have been caused by staffing shortages. Several drivers had to stop working due to an illness, he said.
“We had a hard spot with a couple folks who fell ill and could no longer work with us,” he said.
The company, which is based in upstate New York, is training additional drivers in western Massachusetts out of its Agawam office and doing trash pickups on Saturdays to help get back on track, LaFollette said.
“We’re really trying to take care of the customers, button it up and give the service to our customers that they deserve,” he said.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com