Neighbors fed up with overflowing dumpster behind apartment complex

Neighbors pick up trash from The Wilshire dumpster on Skillman Street. Photography courtesy of Mimi Siebert-Bowen.

Neighbors who live near The Wilshire apartment complex on Skillman Street have a stinky situation on their hands.

Every Tuesday and Friday, they pick up trash that waste management company, Waste Connections, doesn’t bother picking up after emptying the dumpster. After picking up the littered trash, neighbors attempt to push the dumpster back into its cage and shut doors. But with no latch, the doors fly open, blocking the sidewalk and alley neighbors use to access their garages.

The bi-weekly ritual ends when neighbors send photos and emails of the day’s festivities to the leasing and waste collection companies. They’ve called 311 and contacted code enforcement with no results. Now they’re not sure what to do.

“It started about a year ago,” neighbor Mimi Siebert-Bowen said. “That’s when my husband and I said, ‘We’ve had enough.’ We go out there almost every Tuesday and Friday, but if I’m in a meeting or it’s raining, we don’t deal with it. I shouldn’t be picking their garbage up.”

The multifamily apartment complex, recently renamed The Wilshire, was in disrepair for years before a new property owner invested in building upgrades. Neighbors appreciate that the complex is maintained and looks better than it did, but they want the ongoing waste management problem resolved.

“This is an every week ordeal,” Siebert-Bowen said. “Sometimes I just pick it up. There are other days I’m in the mood to rip someone’s head off. Fix the dumpster. Get a bigger dumpster. Put a lock on it. Have waste management come out more. Change companies. I’m not going to let it go. Have some respect for your neighbors.”

Taylor Brakefield, a spokeswoman for the property manager Pros PM, declined to comment.

Neighbors in the 700 block of Skillman Street said they coexist peacefully with the Power Properties apartment complex across the street. The waste hauler emptying that dumpster picks up trash that is spilled, puts the empty container back in its cage and closes the doors, they said.

If community members don’t push The Wilshire dumpster back into its cage, the gate blocks the sidewalk, and students walking to Lipscomb Elementary have to enter the street to dodge it. The gate also blocks vehicular access to the alley, and neighbors can’t get home unless they get out and move it.

The Wilshire has acquiesced to some requests. A new lock was placed on the dumpster’s cage, making it easier to access the sidewalk and the alley. But it prohibits neighbors from cleaning up the trash that is spilled when the dumpster is emptied. When it’s windy, the trash still blows into their yards and the street.

“It smells in the summer, and that’s not what we want for our neighborhood,” Siebert-Bowen said.