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Neighborhood leaders urged to report potholes and illegal dumping as city plans trash vendor change and curbside recycling
Summary
Speakers at the Marion County Alliance meeting highlighted ways residents can report potholes and trash, noted a planned DPW trash vendor change in 2026 and a 2028 start for universal curbside recycling, and warned that community recycling bins were removed at Washington Square because of illegal dumping.
Kathy Burton, president of the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (McKenna), and Mina Musa, the mayor’s neighborhood advocate for Area 1, urged residents to report potholes, broken sirens and illegal dumping and described city programs that can assist.
Burton said community recycling dumpsters at Washington Square were removed after frequent illegal dumping — mattresses, TVs and furniture — made the sites unusable for residents who recycle. “If there's too much stuff that gets dumped around there, the big trucks that come to pick them up can't even get to the recycling bins, and you'll end up losing [the site],” Burton said.
Musa told attendees that the Department of Public Works has a new trash service provider taking effect Jan. 1, 2026, and that universal curbside recycling will begin in 2028. “If you have DPW, you're going to stay with DPW. If you have Republic, it will be a new service provider…universal curbside recycling will come in 2028,” Musa said.
Both speakers encouraged use of the Mayor’s Action Center (MAC) to report potholes, nonworking sirens, missed trash pickups and other service needs. Musa gave the MAC number (317‑327‑3622) and repeated that residents without internet can call for assistance. Multiple attendees reported a longstanding maintenance problem in an alley behind the post office on North 30th Street (between 30th and 32nd), which provides egress for the post office and a library; Musa asked for the most recent MAC case number and said she would escalate follow up using that case.
Burton also reminded groups that Indianapolis Beautiful is taking reservations for free dumpsters for neighborhood cleanups through October, and she urged neighborhood organizations to keep their registration current on the city’s neighborhood registration site so they receive zoning notices and other communications.
The information is significant for residents because the DPW vendor change and the move to universal curbside recycling will affect how trash and recycling are collected, and because enforcement and cleanup decisions depend on residents reporting problems. Musa asked neighborhood organizations to share events and service requests with MNAs so the city can amplify information through newsletters and outreach.
No formal city policy decisions were made at the meeting; speakers asked for follow up from city staff and for neighborhood groups to report service needs to the MAC so DPW can respond.
