Residents from the West University Avenue block told the City Council on Sept. 2 that repeated early-morning commercial garbage pickups by private hauling companies are disturbing sleep, harming health and imposing out-of-pocket costs. "These early collection times have real and negative consequences on the citizens and residents of our block both financially and from the perspective of their personal health and well‑being," resident Chris Geckler told the council. Geckler enumerated pickups on that block over the prior two weeks, including: Thursday the 21st at 6:45 a.m.; Friday the 22nd at 4:27 a.m. and 5:40 a.m.; Monday the 25th at 5:44 a.m.; Tuesday the 26th and Wednesday the 27th at 6:16 a.m.; Thursday the 28th at 6:04 a.m.; Friday the 29th at 4:05 a.m., 4:18 a.m. and 6:53 a.m.; and the morning of the council meeting at 6:07 a.m. He said the early runs were made by Republic, Illini and GFL; other haulers on the block (ABC and the city recycling crew) pick up later. Geckler said Illini told residents they could not collect after 7 a.m. because of traffic but later performed a pickup at about 2:20 p.m., suggesting traffic was not a consistent constraint. April Novak, another resident on the same block, said the noise has been "personally very devastating" to her sleep and health and that residents have spent money trying to mitigate the problem; she said her household spent $6,000 on window inserts. Geckler asked the city to provide a mechanism—an ordinance or an enforcement tool—so Public Works can act; he noted that some Illinois cities, including Chicago, Normal, Naperville, Galesburg and Belleville, have ordinances that set minimum collection times. The Public Works department previously shared minutes from a 2018 study session in which council members chose not to adopt a minimum-pickup-time ordinance after hearing from haulers about business burdens. Geckler told the council that residents lack confidence in resolving this issue through private negotiation alone and asked the city to work with them to find a solution. The council did not take immediate action at the Sept. 2 meeting; residents said they want the city to identify a path forward and to consider ordinances or other tools that give Public Works enforcement authority. Mayor and councilors thanked the speakers for bringing the issue forward and asked staff to continue discussions with the public.