Delayed Metro trash services continue to plague south Nashville neighborhood

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Residents in a south Nashville neighborhood said they’re continuing to deal with delayed garbage pickup services.

Rows of overflowing garbage cans on Oakland Street and Leafland and Dayton avenues are a concern for some people who live and work in the area like Blake Suttle, who believes picking up the trash should be a simple task.

“It doesn’t make sense why they hit and miss. You can look at the street behind me. It’s horrible,” Suttle said.

Penny Hangline said not only is this problem an eyesore but poses an environmental threat.

“The people around me, you see their trash is overflowing,” Hangline said. “It’s bad because some people only have one trash can. I’m lucky to have two.”

Nearly two weeks ago, a neighbor just one street over on Sadler Avenue told News4 the trash crews would only come every other week rather than weekly. Metro Water Services, which oversees trash pickup, told News4 the delay was due to a railroad issue and that they were going to adjust the pickup schedule.

There were no overflowing garbage bins on Sadler Avenue on Tuesday, but three neighboring streets just yards away had bins overflowing with trash.

“It makes no sense how they’re going to pick up here. You know, I get it, they have a busy schedule, life to live, just like we do, but pick our trash up. We need our trash picked up,” Hangline said.

News4 took those concerns to Metro Water Services on Tuesday.

“We received 250 complaints the month of January, 300 in February and 450 in March. We are aware that some of those complaints are duplicates, but the dramatic increase is alarming,” Sonia Allman, spokesperson for Metro Water Services, said.

Metro Water Services said it has seen an increase in misses over the past few months with its contractor Waste Industries Inc., and it is planning to meet with them about the delays.

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