Rowlett officials, residents press Republic Services on inconsistent trash and bulky-waste pickup; staff to clarify contract day and boost outreach

Residents and city officials pressed Republic Services and Rowlett staff on inconsistent residential trash and bulky‑waste pickup during the April 8 Rowlett City Council work session, saying missed pickups and lingering bulk trash have left neighborhoods littered and frustrated customers calling city staff rather than the contractor.

The complaints came during citizen input, when multiple residents described weeks of missed pickups and long waits on hold to report problems. “We never know whether we're going to be missed or not,” said Pat Karakostas, a Rowlett resident, describing repeated late or incomplete collections and a vendor phone line she said was out of service for weeks. Curtis Smith said the contract is between the city and Republic Services and urged the city to enforce it after his trash was missed multiple times. Robert Van Blumenthal and Christy Cabaniss said bulk debris and mattresses are accumulating in multiple neighborhoods and harming property appearance.

Why it matters: Council members said the complaints show a breakdown in the new monthly bulky‑waste schedule the city adopted when the contract switched vendors. Residents and council members said the change from a weekly to a monthly schedule has left some compliant loads sitting at curbs for days or weeks and has encouraged contractors and lawn services to leave frequent bags of clippings curbside.

City presentation and Republic response City staff presented three options for revising the bulky‑waste portion of the contract: (1) clarify the existing once‑a‑month service by specifying a collection day for each address and tighten communications; (2) increase service to twice a month and reduce the allowable yardage per pickup; or (3) keep the current yardage but increase collection frequency. Christophe Bauer, City staff presenter, said the city’s current contract language leaves Republic a full week to collect a set‑out, which can make compliant loads remain curbside for several days. He said clarifying a single collection day would allow a targeted education push telling residents to put bulky items out no more than 24 hours before that day.

Republic Services representative Rick Bernays told the council the company can and does schedule extra, on‑call bulky pickups for a fee (quoted in the meeting as $12 per cubic yard) and that the vendor’s app includes a “track my truck” feature and a system for scheduling extra pickups. Bernays acknowledged problems with the contractor phone system during the transition and said Republic and city staff are monitoring missed‑pickup reports and performance metrics; he said about 40 ad‑hoc bulky pickups have been scheduled per week recently.

Council direction and next steps Council members pressed for both short‑term and structural responses. They asked staff to: clarify contract language to designate a single collection day for each address; begin a focused public education campaign (including app push notifications and postcards) so residents know their monthly pickup date; increase code enforcement and abatement where contractors or residents repeatedly leave noncompliant loads; and return with costed options before budget adoption. Staff said they will prepare a contract modification and bring it back to council (first available agenda signaled for May) and to run a more detailed public survey or, if requested, a scientifically sampled poll.

The council did not take a formal vote at the meeting; minutes and staff follow‑up were assigned. Staff said they will begin updating public communications immediately to indicate a specific collection day per address and will provide more detailed performance metrics and options to council before the budget cycle.

Voices and evidence Quotes and attributions in this story come from speakers at the April 8 Rowlett City Council work session: Pat Karakostas (resident), Curtis Smith (resident), Robert Van Blumenthal (resident), Christy Cabaniss (resident), Michelle Stout Wright (resident and Keep Rowlett Beautiful volunteer), Christophe Bauer (City staff), and Rick Bernays (Republic Services representative). Excerpts of their remarks were recorded in the official meeting transcript.

Ending Staff will return to council with a proposed contract amendment to specify collection days, an expanded communications plan, enforcement options, and a timeline for when changes would take effect.