PRATTVILLE, AL (WSFA) -
Trash--causing quite a stir in Prattville.
A city law doesn't allow garbage cans in some neighborhoods.
While some homeowners are ok with it, others are not.
It's not unusual to see piles of trash in the Highland Ridge subdivision and others.
But that's what a Prattville city ordinance requires homeowners to do--place garbage at the curb--uncontained.
"This is a great great community and we are happy to be here. But four days a week our streets are covered in garbage," says homeowner, Meg Brown.
"You've got three or four bags in front of each house all the way through the neighborhood," adds Brian Stewart.
A few years ago, the Prattville city council voted against privatizing sanitation services and also against providing canisters for residents' garbage.
Mayor Bill Gillespie says it's because the majority of residents who voiced concerns, were against the canisters.
"There is a segment of Prattville that wants bags. And there is a small segment of people that needs bags," says Gillespie.
Gillespie says many elderly residents worry canisters would be difficult to push down steep driveways and would simply look ugly.
Brian Stewart says he'd rather see cans over what he sees now.
"You have coffee filters and coffee grounds and you'll have razors and from time to time you will have feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes will be in the street and on the sidewalk. The dogs, cats and animals get into them."
Talk to many residents and they'll tell you trash in the street is all too common. They say not only is it unsightly, but it's also unsafe for their children.
"If the kids are out playing and there's garbage out there, I mean they're kicking balls and playing and it could end up in a pile of garbage," says Brown.
The mayor admits, he has noticed unruly garbage piles and is open to considering new trash gathering methods.
"Everywhere I've ever lived, we have had canisters for our trash," says Brown.
Parts of West Prattville are the only areas of the city that currently use trash canisters.
City officials say expanding the service to other areas would lead to a rise in garbage fees, which many residents oppose.
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