AUSTIN, Texas — Several East Austin businesses are left looking for someone to take care of growing piles of trash that sit outside their buildings.
"It's an eyesore and it's not getting any better,” said Kent Wahl, COO of AAA Auger Plumbing.
Along Ferguson Cutoff Road, there’s a bunch of items someone no longer wants. From couches and desks to mattresses and bottles, you name it and it’s out there, but the problem is that this isn't a dumpster.
“We take pride in our buildings,” said Wahl. “We want it to look good."
The trash sits along a nature preserve and next to businesses near Highway 290 that want to keep the area clean.
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Wahl said this has been going on for years, and lately it's only gotten worse.
“When you drive in here in the morning you can't wait to pull into our shop ‘cause then it's our little haven here, but across the street it's horrible,” said Wahl.
He said they're also getting the runaround, trying to figure out who can come pick it up.
“We've called everyone we can think of -- County says it's the City, City says the County,” said Wahl.
He hopes someone comes soon because, to him, this trash is a poor reflection of the businesses nearby.
“What about when we try to hire people or our customers come here,” asked Wahl.
KVUE called the City on Feb. 11 and the code department said they hadn't received any complaints about trash in the area as of then, but now that they had been made aware of it, someone was expected to come out and investigate as early as Feb. 12.
On Feb. 20, the code department sent KVUE the following information from Code Supervisor Matt Noriega about the case for property located at 8401 1/2 Ferguson Cutoff:
"On February 13, 2019, the Austin Parks Department was sent a city referral notice and a request was submitted to Austin Community Court to remove the trash and debris from the right of way and city property right of way and city property. As of today, a crew removed the majority of the illegal dumping and trash this morning and any remaining debris tomorrow. A portion of the street is partially within Travis County and will be required to be maintained by the county’s public works department.
The Austin Code Department has taken surveillance measures to act as a deterrent and to find identifiers that may lead to prosecution of the illegal dumpers. The Ferguson Cutoff St., city owned and commercial properties will continue to be monitored to address any future dumping occurring in the area."
