City Council approves $4M to address trash collection issue in Duval County

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Bins are seen lining a thoroughfare successful Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council connected Tuesday nighttime approved utilizing $4 cardinal successful COVID-19 alleviation funds to assistance code the trash contented affecting immoderate neighborhoods successful Duval County.

The ballot was 18-0 successful favor. That wealth would beryllium utilized to wage for a caller gait discarded transportation tract connected Philips Highway and wage for recycling drop-off points for the public. The measure is an exigency work agreement.

A labour shortage involving drivers has caused gait debris and different garbage to proceed heap up successful immoderate areas.

Ronnie Burris is the concern manager of the Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 630. The national represents pubic works employees successful Jacksonville and Nassau County, arsenic good arsenic galore different municipalities successful the state.

“They bash a hard job. It’s not a glorified Job. They are picking up garbage,” Burris said.

Some of the workers person offered to the bash the occupation 7 days a week.

Burris says that the occupation is that galore of them tin marque overmuch much wealth elsewhere. Burris says workers connected the backmost of trucks marque astir $34,000 a twelvemonth and the drivers marque astir $43,000.

He adds that different companies are offering a bigger paycheck.

“The municipalities conscionable don’t wage capable to support these CDL drivers,” Burris said. “You tin spell to enactment astatine Amazon, you tin spell to enactment astatine a Walmart organisation center, you tin spell to enactment astatine each these different antithetic places that wage a full batch much wealth than what the metropolis can.”

That means we could proceed to spot discarded heap up on astatine the ends of immoderate driveways. That’s frustrating to Mike Chamberlin, who lives successful the Fort Caroline area.

“What are we paying for? I recognize determination is simply a labour shortage, but you got to get idiosyncratic retired here,” Chamberlin said.

According to Mayor Lenny Curry, the solution for present is suspending recycling and putting much absorption connected garbage and gait waste.

Starting Monday, residents successful Duval County tin propulsion recycling discarded successful with regular garbage, oregon they tin instrumentality it to 1 of 14 designated spots successful the city.