Better solutions sought for downtown McGregor garbage collection
After their individual toters were removed, downtown McGregor residents and businesses must take their trash and recycling to these dumpsters behind the post office. (Photo by Audrey Posten)
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
At the March 24 McGregor city council meeting, residents and business owners voiced concerns over a change to the city’s solid waste and recycling contract with Waste Management that eliminated curbside pick-up for much of the downtown.
Under the amendment, locations from 112 to 312 Main St. must bring their trash and recycling to commercial dumpsters at a drop site located behind the post office. All individual totes were removed.
The change came after Waste Management updated its trucks with mechanical arms that grab containers and dump waste into the truck, eliminating the need for drivers to get in and out of the truck to dump toters, or at some locations on Main Street, pick up individual bags of trash. Due to traffic congestion, Waste Management informed the city the arms could not reach the downtown McGregor bins.
City officials said they’ve been working on a solution for months. Originally staged in the First Street parking lot, Deputy City Clerk and Economic Development Lead Brandi Crozier noted the set of dumpsters was moved to the current spot “to be a little more convenient. It’s not as far.”
City administrator Denise Schneider also said the location would be away from summer boat and trailer traffic and hopefully limit the dumping of fish guts and other unwanted materials. Cameras will soon go up to monitor the site.
Those who have to haul their garbage will receive what Crozier called a “drop site rate” for $15.50 per month, a decrease from the $19 for curbside pick-up.
“One of the benefits of the drop site dumpster is you don’t have to wait for trash pick-up day. You can be taking it throughout the week,” said mayor Russ Crawmer, who thanked people for attending the meeting and attempting to problem solve.
Meeting attendees weren’t thrilled with the solutions, however.
LP Wild labeled the situation “a major inconvenience to a lot of people, especially people who have mobility issues, elderly, sick...What happens in the winter when it’s icy and snowy? What happens when someone’s bag breaks and they’re crossing Main Street?”
Wild and resident and business owner Katie Ruff said the eight-yard dumpsters are also hard to navigate.
“When you lift that lid, you have to hoist [the trash] into there. Not everyone is strong enough to be able to hoist something above them,” Ruff shared.
“I’ve already lost a garbage can in there because it’s too hard to hold the lid open and dump garbage,” Wild added. “It needs to be addressed and there needs to be a different solution.”
A representative from Waste Management suggested placing smaller—perhaps easier to manage—dumpsters at the site and emptying them twice per week instead of once on Tuesdays. That would also cut down on trash overflowing out of the dumpsters and looking unsightly. He further planned to order signs that would better label trash versus recycling dumpsters.
In a letter to the city, Brittany Keyes said the solution fails to meet the basic needs of a sustaining community.
“The downtown is the heartbeat of the city. These businesses, homes and apartments are where tourists walk by, who they engage with, and they keep the economy of this town going,” she stated.
Until city leaders develop a fair solution, Keyes said she will engage legal counsel “to review how this municipal service is inconsistent and risky for residents, barrier-ridden and potentially discriminatory against individuals who are not fully able-bodied.”
Other residents wondered how garbage could be labeled a service when they were walking bags to the dumpsters themselves.
“We’re basically being oriented to be like an employee,” one person said.
Wild offered several alternatives, one being single side street parking on garbage day. Bins could be placed on the side of the street where vehicles are prohibited from parking, and the garbage truck can pick them up.
“That would get rid of the car problem and let them use the truck with the arms,” Wild said.
Council member Charlie Carroll said that idea was discussed. The problem is many homes and businesses, especially on the lower block of Main Street, do not have a place to store toters. Between all downtown locations, there would be over 50 toters.
“With these new trucks, they cannot pick up a garbage bag. They need a toter. Where are we going to put all these toters?” he asked.
Wild further wondered if people could share toters if they don’t generate a lot of trash, cutting down on the number of bins.
“It’s something we’ve looked at,” Crawmer responded, “but how do we bill for that? How do we store them? How do we keep track of whose toter is whose?”
Ruff asked if toters could be picked up on other streets to limit congestion. While her business, By the Spoonful, is located on Main Street, Ruff said her bins were always picked up behind the building, on Second Street. The truck with the arms could reach her toters and those of her neighbors, but then were taken away as a result of this contract change.
While one neighbor with a Second Street address had their toters returned, “where they have to take their bins is my driveway,” Ruff explained. “How come myself and a couple other Main Street addresses that put our bins in the same area can’t do that?”
Ruff added that other people could put their bins out on Ann Street, as they did during the recent Main Street construction project.
“It could be something simple to let residents have basic garbage pick-up,” she said.
Ruff was most frustrated, though, by a lack of communication from the city. She found out about the change when workers removed the toters from her property.
“I don’t think there would be as much of an uproar if there was at least proper communication besides word of mouth. This is a conversation that’s been happening for a few months prior to this. Have the conversation that’s happening right now before the bins got taken away,” she said.
Crawmer apologized, acknowledging that the city “dropped the ball on communication.”
“That’s good feedback for future events, to do as much communication as possible,” he said. “And these are all valid concerns. I want this to be right. I want it to work for everyone. This will be something we take very seriously and try to re-think things.”
In other topics on the agenda, the council approved the first readings of property maintenance and demolition of buildings ordinances. The first would establish minimum requirements for maintenance of existing structures and property within the city, in an attempt to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents and visitors. The latter ordinance would allow the city to regulate the demolition of buildings, specifically historic structures.
The city of McGregor was awarded a $500,000 CDBG grant for the brick street and infrastructure project around Triangle Park. Alex Jaromin from Davy Engineering said it’s likely now that the work will be bid in fall or winter, with the project starting in spring 2026 to coordinate with updates within Triangle Park itself.
