Trash duty for McKeesport mayor
By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
You weren’t hallucinating last week if you thought you saw McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and City Hall employees loading a garbage truck.
Cherepko, City Administrator Tom Maglicco, Chief Revenue Officer Matt Gergely and other city employees spanned the city from 2 to 11 p.m. Friday, collecting trash in a city-owned truck and unloading it at the city garage trash compactor and staging area.
That came after Cherepko joined an overwhelmed two-man County Hauling crew to collect trash late Thursday night.
On both occasions, the mayor received help from city residents who wanted to be part of the solution.
McKeesport residents from various neighborhoods have recently flooded the mayor’s office with complaints via phone and social media saying County Hauling’s trash pick-ups have been delayed — in some cases for weeks.
A City Hall spokesperson said some residents have reported their trash hasn’t been picked up since the week of May 14, while others report a two- to four-day delay.
County Hauling, which is based in Rostraver Township and is the city’s contracted trash and recycling hauler, offered an explanation via an email to the Mon Valley Independent Monday for delayed pick-ups. The company cited, among other things, an increase in residential trash at the curb while people were home during coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders.
The mayor’s office said some residents reported the company didn’t collect trash in their neighborhood at all during the week of Memorial Day. City Hall expected — as is traditionally the case under any refuse collection company in any municipality — that trash collections would be delayed by one day as a result of the holiday.
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