City officials are asking residents to not sit trash out until further notice. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver’s office issued a July 30 statement announcing that the city no longer has trash service and garbage will not be picked up starting Monday.
“Due to the circumstances, there will be no trash pick-up in the city starting this Monday, Aug. 1, 2016,” said the statement sent by Flint spokeswoman Kristin Moore. “Until a new agreement is officially in place, we ask the residents not set their trash out at the curb to prevent animals from disturbing it and make the situation worse.”
The announcement comes after the city’s contract with Republic Services expired on July 29 at 5 p.m. The trash contract has been an ongoing dispute since June when the Flint City Council voted against Weaver’s recommendation to award a $17.5-million-trash contract to Rizzo Environmental Services.
Initially, council members said they wanted to research the company and some members also questioned Rizzo’s ties to former Mayor Woodrow Stanley and potential ties the company may have in Canada.
The council came back on July 18 and voted 8 – 1 against hiring Rizzo to haul Flint’s trash even though their bid came in $2 million lower than Republic, the company who held the trash contract until July 29.
Weaver later vetoed the council’s decision to renew a contract with Republic and the council voted to override her decision.
Council President Kerry Nelson said the decision to end trash services are “exclusively the decision of Mayor Karen Weaver.”
According to Nelson’s statement Republic did offer to continue servicing Flint after a Friday, July 29 court hearing regarding the city’s trash contract.
Nelson said the council will ask Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Farah to order Weaver to “reinstate garbage pick-up” in Flint pending the outcome of a recent lawsuit filed against Weaver’s administration.
To read the full story, visit http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/07/mayor_says_there_will_be_no_tr.html.