Trash troubles for Lake County residents continue into the new year

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — When Lake County contracted with a new waste company for residential waste collection last year, residents expected some hiccups.

With the new year, some residents still wait for their recyclables and yard waste to be picked up.

Lake County resident Jody Mullens said the problems are leaving neighbors frustrated.

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“No one showing up. It just looked like, you know, we didn’t care about our neighborhood and everything piling up, and it just looked horrible. Just looked horrible, " Mullens said.

The county began contracting with FCC Environmental in October, and since then, residents have reported problems about the inconsistent service with little response from the company.

“No action was being taken. They would respond to the email, ‘Okay, we know that this got missed,’ but nobody ever came to pick anything up,” Mullens said.

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In November, Lake County commissioners sent a letter to residents acknowledging the issue.

“the board of county commissioners (board) recognizes that the delayed or missed residential garbage collection has created a stressful situation for many residents,” the letter said.

Along with the letter, the county sent a refund check for $16.83 and asked residents for patience while fcc became familiar with the new routes.

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County officials said they usually give haulers a year to work on logistics and staffing before adding a new route, but with FCC, the company only had 90 days to get ready.

The county said FCC had added three new trucks to help with the collection, and the county has hired a solid waste consultant to evaluate the current collection system.

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