Resident presses Smithfield council on missed trash pickups; town manager says contractor will be warned

Smithfield — A resident raised repeated sanitation problems during public comment at the Jan. 6 town-council meeting, saying whole areas have been missed and that discharge from collection vehicles presents an environmental concern.

The resident (identified in the transcript as Mr. Mahoney) said he had received multiple complaints and had spoken with town staff about the problem. "It's kind of hard to keep up with it, the sanitation aspect, trash pickup, has been sporadic, at best," the speaker said.

Michael (town staff) told the council the town has experienced recurring service issues with the contractor, that staff have met contractor leadership previously (service improved for a time and then declined), and that a meeting with the contractor is scheduled for Friday "to basically put them on notice that they either get their ducks in a row or we're gonna put it out to bid early." He added the contractor's contract runs through 2027 but that repeated failures could constitute a service-agreement violation.

Council members asked how residents should report missed pickups. Michael recommended calling town hall or Public Works so the town can document each miss and contact the contractor, noting that phone numbers printed on cans are sometimes out of date.

There was no formal council directive recorded at the meeting beyond the manager’s description of a planned meeting with the contractor and the stated possibility of rebidding the service if problems persist.