Garbage collection continues to rankle Niles residents, as some are still dissatisfied with the town board's solutions to trash pick-up problems.

Residents expressed concerns at last week's town board meeting about the large trash bin that's been set up at the town highway department building for residents who are not being served by Casella Waste Systems, the firm that has the current garbage pick-up contract in the town.

The trash bin had been set up in the area of Plunkie Point and Appletree Point roads, where Casella had refused to send its trucks because it said the roads were too dangerous. But the bin was moved to the town facility after people complained of problems involving raccoons and unauthorized dumping.

Sandra Courtney, a resident, said she was disappointed in the decision to move the trash bin. Courtney said she had difficulty getting all the way up to the town facility with her garbage.

Another issue is the hours people can use the trash bin on weekends. Residents asked that hours might be added on Sunday.

Forrest Rittgers of Fire Lane 13 complimented the highway superintendent for his department's efforts on the issue, but said Casella is not replacing the bin often enough.

“The performance of the vendor was lacking,” he said.

He noted that it took Casella one month to replace the trash bin.

The situation has town board members scratching their heads.

“We're trying to please everyone, but we're not going to,” said town board member Alberta Winters.

In the meantime, the town is trying to ensure it avoids the problems it has encountered with the current garbage contract.

Rickey Slagle, town supervisor, said the town was still being billed erroneously by Casella for rolloffs. These billing errors were not corrected and the town was still getting threats to cut off service, although Casella advised it to ignore them.

The committee on waste disposal recommended some measures to deter future waste collectors from similar problems. The suggestions included sending a map of the roads along with garbage collection routes and expectations to prospective bidders and offer a tour to preview the routes. Then if the contractor getting the bid doesn't do the job, levy a fine.

Besides refusing to go down certain roads, Casella's problems included equipment breakdowns and new drivers who didn't know the pickup routes, officials said.

The town plans to have bid specifications for the 2010 contract out in time for the next Niles Town Board meeting on Sept. 3.

Slagel said that two potential bidders, WeCare Organics, located in Jordan, and Dependable Disposal and Morgan Waste Removal, of Elbridge, both said they would go down Appletree Point Road to pick up garbage. They have pickup trucks that can negotiate the road.

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net