ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of people in Orange County woke up to see trash in their driveways that was supposed to be picked up Monday.
Channel 9's Karla Ray was told by residents that it's happened at least four times in the past month. The problem started about the same time that the company contracted to collect trash had learned it's contract won't be renewed.
Both zones where Ray found trash out past its pickup time are supposed to be controlled by Republic Services of Florida.
The county said it plans to send the company a strong message and possibly fines if they don't clean up their act.
"I thought we got the garbage day wrong. I was just so confused why ours and our neighbors' garbage cans are still full and still out," said resident Kristen Steury.
It's the same problem across county. In Cypress Lakes, residents said they've been dealing with it for weeks.
"About three weeks ago, we put our garbage out as normal on Tuesday and it was never picked up," said resident Don Rogozinski.
Homeowners Association officials said that was around the same time that Orange County awarded a new garbage contract to foreign company FCC Infrastructure, which won't work in Orange County until January 2016.
But some wonder if the current company, Florida Republic, is sending a message after being squeezed out of the picture.
"We go through the trouble of moving everything out and it sits there and sits there and sits there all day," said Rogozinski.
Tuesday afternoon Ray saw trucks moving through some of the affected neighborhoods, collecting trash.
County leaders said they plan to meet with Florida Republic Wednesday to warn about potential fines if their contract is not fulfilled through the end of the year.
Neighbors said they just want the mess picked up on time.
"We just all moved back from the summer, so, we have a lot of garbage and it's looking pretty trashy around here," said Steury.
Florida Republic Services' attorney has not replied to Channel 9's calls.
WFTV
