Overflowing dumpsters at New Kensington’s Valley Royal Court expected to be emptied
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Garbage that’s overflowing from dumpsters at Valley Royal Court in New Kensington will be removed, according to the city, the hauler for the property and the property manager.
On Monday, garbage filled and was piled around the apartment complex’s three dumpsters. Two are near Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on Fourth Avenue, with one of those on the other side of a fence from the city’s JFK Playground on Fourth Avenue.
Nathan Book, general manager for Shank Waste Service, confirmed city Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti’s statement that the Lower Burrell company was not emptying the dumpsters because it has not been paid by the property owner.
The local property manager, Shavontay Glover, also said the garbage has accumulated because Shank had not been paid. She could not say when it last was picked up.
Prompted by the city’s code enforcement office, the garbage is expected to be picked up after a payment from the property manager, Boston-based WinnResidential, to Shank clears, Scarpiniti said.
WinnResidential became the property manager Aug. 1, spokesman Ed Cafasso said. Shortly after, he said the owner, NB Affordable, encountered “financial challenges” that impacted its operations.
“We’re working with the owners to try to remedy those issues,” Cafasso said. “One of those is the issues with the trash collection.”
Cafasso said he expects the garbage to be removed Tuesday and collection “will be uninterrupted going forward.”
Book was not able to say how long it had been since Shank last was paid to collect the garbage at Valley Royal Court, or for how long the existing piles have been accumulating.
Valley Royal Court is not far from city hall, consisting of five buildings between 11th Street and Hileman Drive and between Fourth and Fifth avenues. Its garbage is not collected by the city’s contractor, County Hauling.
The three dumpsters available to residents are enough, if they are emptied, Scarpiniti said.
“Thank God it’s cold out,” he said. “It would smell like New York City.”
The city has cited the property’s owner over the garbage, Scarpiniti said. He said the garbage has been piling up and out of the dumpsters over three to four weeks.
Citations also have been issued for abandoned vehicles in the complex’s parking lots, Scarpiniti said.
If the property owner did not get the garbage removed, the city eventually would have to pay to have it done, Scarpiniti said. In that situation, the city would file a lien against the property to recover the cost.
Because Valley Royal Court is subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Kensington also has been working with the agency to see what could be done, Scarpiniti said. The city was told a complaint would need to come from a tenant, he said.