By TAYLOR FARNSWORTH
Contributing Writer
Walking along side the garbage truck, wearing yellow reflecting vests, the garbage men pick up trash and recycling bins left curbside by residents. After the two garbage men dump the trash into the back of the truck, the empty bins and trash cans are sometimes thrown back onto the sidewalk lying about aimlessly as the men continue down the street conducting the same routine.
The Department of General Services in the Albany area’s mission is to ensure that the city streetscape, park infrastructures, public facilities, and public open spaces are maintained to be functional, safe, clean, attractive and convenient for residents and visitors. But how functional, safe, clean, attractive and convenient is it for residents to wake up to garbage cans and recycling bins thrown about the sidewalk?
“They barely ever put them right side up,” said Patrick Mochrie, a resident on Mercer Street of the Pine Hills neighborhood, referring to the placement of the garbage and recycling bins by the garbage men.
Mochrie isn’t the only resident of the Albany area with similar complaints.
SeeClickFix is an app that allows residents to report issues directly to the City of Albany. On this app, residents can find that there have been multiple complaints to the Department of General Services regarding poor garbage and recycling pickup.
The most common complaints seen on SeeClickFix relating to illegal trash are trash bins being placed in the public’s view before their designated trash pick-up day, and trash alongside resident’s homes and the streets.
On Oct. 24, Richard Hameher, an Albany resident, uploaded a picture onto the app of a mattress, box spring, and other household trash items near the sidewalk of 131 Clermont Street. The trash was reported as being placed by the residents before the designated trash pick-up day. The complaint was acknowledged by the Department of General Services and is still under review.
“We really focus on communication,” said Eva Petkanas, community relations coordinator at the Department of General Services. “We can’t be everywhere, but SeeClickFix makes it easier for our department to address compliance issues.” According to Petkanas, SeeClickFix it goes directly to the department in charge of handling the issue addressed.
Complaints posted on SeeClickFix first get sent to the City of Albany admin, who then assigns the issue to the relative department, in this case the Department of General Services. Once the Department of General Services acknowledges the complaint, it is under review until the complaint has been properly investigated and dealt with accordingly.
Albany Police Officer Joe Acquaviva hears complaints relating to residents leaving garbage along the streets and their garbage bins out in the public’s view, which are both violations of the general city ordinance. Any issue relating to garbage Acquaviva receives he reports back to The Department of General Services.
“The Department of General Services is always good about addressing any concerns or complaints I have brought to them,” he said.
“We don’t receive a lot of complaints,” said Petkanas. “Definitely on windy days cans can fall over, but for the most part we offer a lot and people are pretty satisfied with our service.”
Although Department of General Services may not receive what appears to be a lot of complaints first hand, there are still some residents who seem to be unsatisfied with the garbage and recycling pick up.
“It bothers me a lot,” said Casey Devlin, a student leasing an apartment on Hudson Street in the Pine Hills neighborhood, about garbage cans and recycling bins thrown along the sidewalks.
“I wish they did a better job making sure that when they put back the garbage cans they actually checked to see if they stayed where they put them,” said Devlin.
Devlin was not the only resident who commented about similar complaints relating to garbage and recycling bins being thrown along the sidewalks.
“I’d like to see them take their time with the garbage. They grab the cans and dump them so fast and then just throw the cans back on the sidewalk,” said Mochrie.
Chris Brennan, a Pine Hills resident on Mercer Street, also commented on seeing trash cans alongside the sidewalks after the garbage men have picked up the trash. “I’d like to see the garbage men actually putting back the garbage cans the way they find them,” he said.
Residents of Albany who do have complaints may contact Department of General Services with any issues relating to garbage and recycling pick up, and Petkanas will then speak to the supervisor in charge of that garbage crew. Residents can also utilize the SeeClickFix app, mentioned previously, to report any complaints that they have.
“We emphasize doing our best to be as accessible as possible. We can’t be everywhere at once, so we need residents to contact us about any issues they have,” said Petkanas. Petkanas also said that she felt the current garbage system in place seemed to be working but they are always willing to look for improvements.
One of the biggest challenges that the Department of General Service faces in regards to trash and recycling, is illegal trash.
Meghan Ruby, Unit Recycling Coordinator at Department of General Services, said that people transport their household trash all over the city and put it into public trash bins.
“We need to come up with more effective ways to take care of the city’s trash problem,” said Ian Morse, a resident of the Pine Hills neighborhood, “because it’s important we address the issue and then do something about it.”
