Trash Schedule Change Sparks Complaints, Bernalillo Council Presses Contractor

Bernalillo residents experienced disrupted trash collection after the town's contractor implemented a new routing schedule, town officials confirmed at a Monday evening council meeting. About 140 customers did not receive timely pickup under the updated routes, according to Adam Meyer, district manager at Road Runner Waste Services. The missed collections triggered a wave of constituent complaints that council members and the mayor said filled town phone lines.

Meyer told the council that Road Runner responded by deploying extra trucks to catch up, and that the company plans to repeat that effort for another couple of weeks until residents are familiar with their new pickup days. Councilors pressed the contractor to improve communications to residents and to make collections more reliable while the new routing settles in, citing the volume of calls and frustration brought to their offices by constituents.

Mayor Jack Torres and councilors described intensified demands on staff time as they fielded complaints and relayed resident concerns to the company. The episode highlighted how changes to basic municipal services can quickly become a matter of public interest and administrative burden, particularly in a town where many households depend on predictable pickup schedules for routine waste management.

The immediate local impact is primarily practical. Missed collections create temporary sanitation problems, increase the burden on households, and can aggravate neighborhoods already coping with limited space and resources for waste storage. For residents with work schedules or caregiving responsibilities, uncertain pickup days can impose added inconvenience. Repeated failures in service can also erode public trust in contracted service provision and in the town council's oversight role.

From an institutional perspective the incident underscores the importance of robust transition planning when service providers change routes. Clear advance notice to affected customers, proactive community outreach, and contingency protocols for catch up collections are standard expectations for municipal contracts. Councilors signaled an intent to hold the contractor to a higher standard on communication and reliability while the new routing is fully implemented.

Council members also addressed routine municipal business at the same meeting. They approved budget adjustments to reflect recent grants, and accepted a $5,000 charge for fire department overtime that will be billed to special event organizers. The council emphasized oversight of both contracted services and town spending as part of its continuing responsibility to residents.

This report is based on coverage of the Bernalillo Town Council meeting and statements made by town officials and the contractor.