Need to talk trash? Arlington to host telephone town hall about trash carts, upcoming new rules

Arlington residents will gain a trash cart and lose a collection day in February – two changes that city officials say mirror the waste industry’s shift to automated collection.

Trash haulers that serve cities the size of Arlington no longer offer manual collection services due to employee retention in a physically demanding job, according to the city’s website. City officials say the change will also be more aesthetically pleasing in neighborhoods, rather than trash bags sitting at the curb.

Residents will receive their 95-gallon carts starting the week of Feb. 5, and Arlington’s trash hauler Republic Services will begin automated trash collection starting the following week. Residents’ current recycling collection days will be their new collection days.

The trash carts must be stored out of public view on non-collection days or else residents may receive warnings or fines from city code compliance.

Tyler Hurd, manager of solid waste and recycling, said code compliance will initially focus on educating people about the changes.

“They’re not going to be out there just hammering it down first off,” Hurd said. “They’re going to be out there … doing the best they can to educate the residents.”

Code compliance officers will not cite or fine residents “for the foreseeable future,” according to an email from city spokesperson Susan Schrock. The department did not provide a timeline, nor did they provide specifics on fines. However, the ordinance update that city council approved in May to introduce new rules for trash cart storage list possible fines of up to $2,000 for each offense in violation of the code.

Residents with limited mobility can ask for doorside accommodations by filling out a form at arlingtontx.gov/askarlington. The city will also make exceptions for homes that do not have a place to store carts.

People can also use AskArlington to request a 65-gallon cart instead of the full-sized ones to be delivered in June. Households can also receive up to two additional carts for $6.89 per cart per month.

The city will hold a Jan. 18 telephone town hall for people with questions about the changes. Residents have until 3 p.m. the same day to sign up online for the 6 p.m. town hall.

Residents upset with changes

City officials may hear during the town hall from residents who liked their previous trash collection schedule just fine.

Nathan Ross said he doesn’t oppose trash carts, but he wishes that taxpayers and voters had a say in the decision.

“This is the most un-Arlington thing Arlington has done in a long time,” Ross said. “We’ve just turned a blind ear to the voters and to the taxpayers on this issue and made it feel like more of a big-city mandate than a traditional town format where everybody’s heard.”

Surrounding cities, including Fort Worth and Dallas, have trash carts. Ross said he sees neighborhoods where carts are out in the street or knocked on their sides. Instead of learning from their neighbors, the city will get the same results.

“It’s kind of like seeing the answers to the test before you take the test, but we’re just not paying attention to it,” he said.

Mike Alvey said he plans to park his cart right next to his recycling cart. His side yard slopes at a 45-degree angle, and he does not want his cart in sight.

“That’s where it encroaches on my homestead, to tell me, well, this much square space belongs to the city now. I’m not going to abide by that," Alvey said.

Hurd said the city has not gotten “that many calls,” though they’ve received a few that are contentious.

“It’s change, and change is difficult, and no one likes to change, especially when it seems like it’s being forced on you,” he said.

Though the amount of collection days will shrink, Republic Services will still pick up all trash.

“Say you set out five bags on Monday and three bags on Thursday. That’s eight total bags that will still fit in your cart,” he said.

Got a tip? Email Kailey Broussard at kbroussard@kera.org.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.