PORT ARTHUR, Texas — The City of Port Arthur is taking action to fix trash troubles the city has been facing for months.
Last week, Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bartie explained that a number of issues have kept the city from catching up.
They're now leasing new trucks and altering schedules to catch up. At a city council meeting Tuesday night, residents said they're concerned these changes are only a temporary fix.
The city council passed two motions addressing the issue, but residents fear this is only putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.
The Port Arthur City Council approved two motions to rent two more garbage trucks and extend an existing truck contract with other cities.
“They're leasing these two trucks for one month at a cost of $50,000,” Port Arthur resident Buddy Simmons said. "That's going to take care of one pickup for the city. All right. Okay, what happens after that?"
Residents like Simmons and Sandra Benoit, who have been having issues with their trash and garbage pickup for months, said they're not sure this will solve the problem.
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"We're all fed up with the non-picking up of our trash," Benoit said.
Benoit said until Saturday, her garbage hadn't been picked up for 12 days.
"Garbage is piled on the roads,” she said. “Not enough garbage cans on both sides of the road. You can't get down the road without knocking one of them over."
Last week, Bartie held a news conference. He blamed broken-down trucks and employees sick with COVID-19 for the delays.
"We are looking at a six-month period that we would actually lease these trucks to be sure that our garbage is picked up in a timely manner," Bartie said.
Tuesday’s decisions were part of this plan. One motion passed to rent two garbage trucks for one month from Cleveland and another motion to adjust an existing contract with republic services of Beaumont, for services up to 50,000.
But it will take time to earn the residents' trust again
"Hopefully something's going to be done about this and we will find out,” Simmons said.
Benoit encourages her neighbors and residents to make their voices heard by coming out to city hall meetings and voicing their concerns to the council members.
She said it's their job to keep their elected officials accountable.