PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A survey released by the city of Port St. Lucie found most residents opposed the idea of paying an estimated additional $131 per year to increase trash pickup to twice a week.
The results found that 86% of residents voted no.
"My general preference is not, only because there's only two of us. We don't really create a lot of trash," Port St. Lucie resident Katie Karabelas said. "But you do see some of the trash bins that are a little bit on the full side."
The survey went out in January with a series of questions as a guide for the city when it comes to strategic planning and development of new services and more.
This comes a year and a half after the city began a new contract with FCC Environmental Services in 2022, taking over for former company Waste Pro.
"Your trash would sit out for days and days," Karabelas said. "You wouldn't know when they were coming sometimes. They would leave it out. They wouldn't come for three days. You'd take it back because you weren't sure what was happening and then you'd see them drive by."
"What is your overall satisfaction with the new company? How are you feeling?" asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez.
"It's been great. We haven't had any issues. We love it," Karabelas said.
With the switch, residents had to adjust to trash pick up going from twice a week to once a week.
The move created issues for Port St. Lucie resident Austin Difrancesco, a husband and father of three children.
"It's terrible. Our trash is constantly full, maggots, flies, the whole 9 yards," Difrancesco said.
He said in a week his family fills two bins worth of trash and has resorted to bigger trash cans inside the house to mitigate the issue.
"Port St. Lucie is a beautiful place," Difrancesco said. "If they want to keep Port St. Lucie beautiful, like they say in their slogans, get the trash, get it back to the way it needs to be — two days a week. Help out your residents."
He's not alone, the survey shows 14% voted yes for an extra pick-up day.
Some residents with a buildup of trash and insects have resorted to hiring companies like The Bin Bosses to clean and sanitize their bins.
Owner William Chamberlain said the company started in June 2023 after seeing the need in the community.
"We show up the day of your trash service, then after they're emptied, we'll come disinfect, sanitize, clean them and then after that we actually bring the bins up to the garage door for you," Chamberlain said.
He said a wash can be as quick as five minutes and makes daily rounds based on trash pickup schedules.
"The cleaning of the bins is more for your health," Chamberlain said. "It prevents salmonella, bacteria all the contaminants that people don't realize are actually in there at some point in time."
The city said that the council hasn't made a decision yet on the extra pickup but will be using the results from the survey when it's brought up for discussion.
The city survey also found that residents are much more pleased with garbage collection, recycling and yard waste pickup compared to previous years.
Mayor Shannon Martin released the following statement to WPTV regarding the survey results:
"The city of Port St. Lucie uses data to inform all of our major decisions.
The results of our scientifically valid annual Community Survey showed a strong majority of residents expressed they did not want to pay almost $130 more annually for a second day of solid waste collection. As it stands now, any customer who would like additional trash capacity has the option to request an additional cart.
I was pleased to see that the scientific survey showed major gains in the quality of garbage collection since we instituted the new service with FCC. In 2022, there was only a 48% approval with that growing to 60% approval in 2024.
This data will be incredibly helpful for the Council to use in any future discussions about solid waste service in Port St. Lucie."
