Statement from Lansing Mayor regarding garbage collection issues

Over the past several months there have been issues with the weekly pick-up of trash within the city. The Contractor has regularly missed multiple locations on any given Tuesday, resulting in the inconvenience of residents having to deal with a two-week accumulation of their trash. It was the hope of the city that, with our regular reporting of the missed locations, this would serve as the prompt necessary for the Contractor to correct their oversights. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.

Although city staff has been in constant contact with the service provider, we are still suffering with homes in various areas of town being missed on a weekly basis. To that end, effective September 1, the city will be asking that any residents who have not received the agreed-upon Tuesday garbage pick-up to contact the Clerk’s Office to report the lack of services. We will then process a credit to your individual account, and will reduce your monthly bill by the weekly charges for that week. For the current contract year, the weekly charge amounts to $3.87 per household. The credit will be reflected on your bill either during the month that the service was missed or, in some cases, the following month. Please maintain accurate records of any weeks that you did not receive services, and be assured that the Clerk’s Office will do the same on your behalf.

This has been a source of great frustration for all of us, so in closing I would ask that we continue to do what Lansing residents have always done, and that we overcome this in a respectful manner toward each other. I assure you that the city staff is as frustrated with the situation as anyone else, and that they are doing their best to remediate the situation.

The city is exploring options for a long-term solution to this situation, and will make the public aware of progress moving forward.

Thank you for your patience,

Mike Verdon, Mayor City of Lansing