JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville has a hired a new waste service contractor to take over service routes for residents in North and Northwest Jacksonville.
People living in other parts of the city are wondering what will happen to their waste.
One homeowner on the Westside took extreme measures to get the trash off his property, renting a trailer to remove almost 500 pounds of yard waste that had been there for weeks.
He is just one of many residents in this neighborhood who have not had yard waste or recycling picked up in weeks.
“Everybody has their recycling bins, they’ve been out for two weeks completely full," said Westside resident Thomas Mann.
Yard waste has not been picked up in over two months, according to Man. A pile as tall as him had been growing in front of his home.
“I started pruning some trees a couple of months ago set it at the curb, expected a pick up. A couple weeks later, pruned some more set it in the same pile, expected a pick up," Mann explained.
He decided to take matters into his own hands.
“Felt the need to take it upon myself to load it up, get it off the curb and take it to the dump,” he recalled.
Mann and two other neighbors loaded nearly 700 pounds of yard waste on to a rented trailer, paying for the rental and the service fee at the city’s landfill.
“It would be nice that if you come in as a citizen the dump was, 'Okay you’re free to go,'" said Mann.
Mann said he filed two complaints with the city but hasn’t heard anything.
In fact, according to the city of Jacksonville, in the last two months, there have been over 5,000 complaints filed for missed recycling pick-ups and close to 20,000 complaints for missed yard waste.
The city says the delays are due to staffing issues with waste management contractors.
Mann says he understands but would like to see some notice to residents on what to expect.
“Please keep the citizen informed let us know what’s going on, we would like to know,” said Mann.
Monday was a recycling pick-up day for residents in Mann's neighborhood, at last check, no bins had been picked up.