In a city that relies on waste haulers to be punctual in their trash and recycling pick-ups, week after week, residents who cart their trash to the curb expect it to be taken care of. But what appears as a steady public service may be a delicate balancing act of keeping contractors and companies hitched. 

Regular trash pick-ups by EZ Disposal are tied into Fall River’s Department of Community Maintenance, and if they threaten to abandon their contract with the city, explained DCM Director Al Oliveira to the June 10 City Council Committee on Finance meeting, a “public safety emergency” could — and almost did — happen.

At the meeting, DCM asked the City Council to approve transfers of $200,000 from facilities maintenance free cash, another $200,000 from salaries of unfilled DCM positions, and $1 million in fiscal 2024 surplus revenue to cover solid waste “expenses,” leaving councilors to question what was driving the requests.

Read more at heraldnews.com.