No answer: Manhattan residents say trash company is incommunicado

Nov. 5—Manhattan residents say a local trash collection business has stopped collecting customers' garbage and isn't answering calls. The city government says the problem is not its responsibility, and that uncollected garbage can actually earn the homeowner a ticket.

By all appearances, A1 Trash of Manhattan has stopped picking up trash from customers for more than a month. Repeated attempts by The Mercury to make contact — phone calls, emails and in-person visits to the listed business address — have gone unanswered. The address given for the business is a private residence in northwest Manhattan. The phone rings through to voicemail.

Several customers have told the Mercury that their trash hasn't been picked up for five weeks.

Patrons of the Facebook group "You know you are from Manhattan if..." left more than 100 comments on a post made last month indicating phone calls to A1 Trash Service are going unanswered, and that the business has ceased picking up residents' garbage and recyclables.

Manhattan city manager Ron Fehr said he's heard some of the complaints. He said the city's licensure process for trash collection services "doesn't speak to performance standards" of an individual business, so there's no regulatory control over when or how often waste is picked up.

Trash collection in Manhattan is a private business operation and is not a function provided by city government. Eight trash collection companies are licensed to operate in the city, including A1. Different waste companies have different pickup days.

Fehr said individuals who are having trouble with consistent garbage collection would have to call and check with one of the other services in Manhattan to see if they could be added to current pickup routes. Such a change likely would come with a cost to residents for switching services. And they might be out whatever money they had paid A1 in advance.

He said trash services in Manhattan have been privatized "for decades," and that discussions about making waste collection a municipal service have floated around "for a while" but to date have not been up for consideration.

Fehr said uncollected trash could become a city code enforcement issue if there's enough garbage lingering; typically a neighbor would have to call in a concern to warrant a citation. Fehr said garbage isn't supposed to be left out on the curb all week anyway, and usually it gets picked up well before it gets to that point.

A search of the Kansas Secretary of State business entity database indicates A1 Trash Service, Inc. is currently "active and in good standing." The registered agent for the business is Steven Wilson of Manhattan.