CAPE CORAL, Fla. — On Wednesday, the city of Cape Coral will once again be talking trash at the city council meeting after thousands of missed pick-ups have been reported.
The ongoing issue now leading to a local company trying to step in and correct the problem.
Haul Buddy is basically like Uber, but for trash pick up.
Similar to how users would request a ride, people can access Haul Buddy from their smartphone and request for their trash to be removed by submitting their address and time of pick-up.
Owner and Cape Coral resident Terry Groves said he started the company in May because he was seeing the issues on his very own street.
“One of the things we have seen recently is the large number of individuals moving into the community, is really stressing the current systems that are in place. The current providers of garbage removal, the other city infrastructures seem to be challenged to keep up with the increase in the population,” he said.
Waste Pro reports more than 3,100 missed pickups have been logged in the months of March and April.
The city has two thousand complaints logged for the month of May. but they still have to vet them before they levy fees.
Speaking of money, the city says it's already fined waste pro $980,000 and that doesn't include the missed pick-ups for the month of May.
The city says it wants the company to feel the urgency, that so many people with trash on their street, feel right now.
Groves tells Fox 4 they are considering reaching out to the city to see if their fleet of drivers can work with the city to help fix the issue.
“We talked to a lot of different communities, HOA’s, apartment complexes, and the unanimous response were everyone is looking for a solution like this. The idea that I don’t have to schedule something real far in advance, I don’t need a really large truck, all I need is a buddy with his pickup,” said Groves.
