Resident raises early-morning school trash pickup noise; city describes enforcement steps

A resident raised a public-comment complaint at the Jan. 27 council meeting about overnight school trash pickup noise near Maryland Avenue School.

Melissa Keck, who identified herself and gave her address, said the pickups used to occur between about 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. but are now happening "between 3 and 6AM" with loud "clanging" dumpsters that have long disturbed neighbors. Keck said she has contacted the mayor, code enforcement and the police without resolution and that the problem persisted for more than a decade, including while a neighbor was seriously ill.

Council and staff responded that the city has taken steps to investigate and enforce. Service staff said they had reached out to school officials and the contractor, installed a trail camera at Montrose, and could move that camera to Maryland if needed. Staff also noted a recent change to the noise code allowing organizational penalties, which enables the city to pursue an enforcement action against a company rather than individual drivers.

Service Director Andy Bayshore said the city could request police presence near problem times but acknowledged police resources cannot be continuously assigned to trash pickup. The city asked the resident to expect follow-up and said staff would continue monitoring and enforcement efforts.