Riverside took emergency action this week, hiring a private trash hauler, while residents continue to grapple with garbage collection problems — sometimes it sitting out for days before being collected. The private hauler, Athens Services, started service Thursday, Sept. 19, according to city officials. The company will oversee nine city routes and assist in delayed trash pickups. “It’s going really great,” Riverside City Councilmember Steven Robillard said in a phone interview Thursday. “This morning I was out front in my front yard with my son and two of our cans got picked up by Athens, which hasn’t happened in a very long time.” The City Council approved seeking outside help during the closed session portion of its meeting Tuesday, Sept. 17, Riverside spokesperson Phil Pitchford said. Issues and delays have been ongoing for the past three years, but aging trucks made worse in hot weather are now a key problem. Maintenance costs have gone up because of the aging fleet of trucks, vacancies have led to increased overtime costs, and retention issues, are all things the city has been dealing with, according to the city’s Biennial Budget. Athens may remain for up to six months and no city trash service layoffs are expected due to the assistance the city agency is now getting, officials said. The cost for the private hauler is nearly $95,000 a month, Pitchford said, making the total for six months $570,000. The city’s refuse fund, or solid waste fund, is 2.5% — or $32,628,594 — of the budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. “This is a temporary solution until we get back on track,” Robillard said Thursday. “I think we’re expected to catch up with all the backlog pick-ups by this weekend, and be on normal trash service starting next week.” Loren Dean, with the Mission Grove Neighborhood Association, said Friday, Sept. 20, that Athens covering the Mission Grove area has been prompt with pickups. “I don’t think they’ve had the problems (with pickups) that the city may have had,” he said. Dean said he had not encountered many issues, as far as he could tell, his trash has been picked up on time. Another Riverside resident, Kim Parker, said trash services grew “significantly worse even at the tail end of COVID,” but she’s worried about the city contracting Athens more permanently after the six months is up. “Obviously, we want to keep our city workers,” Parker said Friday. “When we’re calling to say, ‘Hey, why isn’t our trash being picked up?’ Then it’s: Well, it’s too hot, or you know, the weather is bad or we don’t have enough trucks or enough people,” Parker said. Related Articles Local News | Riverside won’t fly pride flag, other commemorative flags at City Hall Local News | San Bernardino County won’t replace AMR ambulance service on Oct. 1 as planned Local News | New home construction near California’s oldest living plant approved by Jurupa Valley leaders Local News | ‘Reckless and stupid,’ ‘incompetent’: OC work that started Airport fire questioned, blasted Local News | 3 wildfires prompt local emergency declarations in Riverside, San Bernardino counties While rates have increased since the pandemic, she said, trash pickup has consistently been behind by a few days. The city department faced increased problems in recent weeks. Nearly eight city trucks broke down in late August, officials said, a shortage made worse by heat waves. The out-of-service trucks have increased delays for trash pick ups, despite city waste collection crews working overtime. As of Thursday, 17 of 34 trucks were in various stages of repair and service, Pitchford said. The city has ordered 10 new waste-hauling trucks, which are expected to begin arriving later this year. To purchase the trucks, the city took emergency action with a $3 million venture fund loan for trash services, Robillard said.