Residents told the Eastpointe City Council on Tuesday that curbside trash pickup has deteriorated since a new contractor began service, leaving trash at curbs for days and creating health and nuisance concerns.

Tiffany Madden, a long-time Eastpointe resident, told the council: “this is the worst that I’ve seen it” and said curbside trash was left all day during a recent scheduled pickup. Colleen Sangster reported multiple missed pickups on her street, said she could not get through to the contractor, and said complaints are starting to smell on holiday weekends.

City Manager Miss Doom acknowledged the problem in her report, told the council that public works staff have received many complaints, and said administration is logging each address and entering incidents into the contractor’s portal. She urged patience while staff “work very closely with them,” said the Public Works director has spent time picking up trash personally, and reminded residents of a scheduled “Long Monday” drop-off at the Public Works building for extra household items (one tire maximum; no hazardous materials).

Council members stressed the need for clearer resident guidance and for better escalation to the contractor’s leadership. Councilmember Curley asked that calls be placed on speaker with the contractor so the city could document responses, and another councilmember asked administration to add a prominent “priority issue” link on the city website to collect and track complaints.

No formal action (contract termination or replacement) was taken; council members said administration will continue to pursue the contractor and that the subject will appear as a future agenda item for more detailed discussion and possible options.

Ending: Administration said it is tabulating complaints and attempting to reach the contractor’s owner or executives; council asked for a public update at a future meeting and urged residents to continue reporting missed pickups through the channels the city posts.