Household trash pickup has continued to be a problem for citizens in Brookhaven and Lincoln County, especially over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

“A bunch of trash should have been picked up,” said Alderman-at-large Don Underwood. But cans were left full — and in some cases, overflowing — throughout the city.

Public Works Director Kris Xifos told the City Board of Aldermen Tuesday that he and his employees had been actively and repeatedly communicating with Arrow Disposal Service Inc., the city’s household trash contractor, in order to address the problem.

“We’ve been tearing those trash people up all week,” Xifos said.

According to Ward 4 Alderman Jeff Henning, the city’s dump was closed except for a short window of time during the holiday weekend. The city had arranged for a three-hour block when the ADSI trucks could empty, but another vendor that also uses the dump arrived with its trucks and filled both the time slot and the allotted area to deposit trash. ADSI’s trucks were therefore unable to empty, so could not pick up more trash prior to Tuesday, when the dump reopened.

Tuesday morning, the trucks were able to empty and the remainder of cans across the city were picked up, Mayor Joe Cox said.

Prior to the Christmas holiday, ADSI posted its Holiday Collection Schedule on social media. It was subsequently shared by the City of Brookhaven and several city officials on their social media accounts. Arrow announced it would be closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day, opening the following mornings at 8 a.m. All weekday pickup routes were to be delayed by one day.

In preparation for extra bagged household garbage during the holidays, the City placed dumpsters in three locations in the city Dec. 22-26 — the parking lot across the street from the front of the courthouse, the parking lot of Dr. A. L. Lott Sportsplex, and the ADSI office parking lot. Henning suggested the dumpsters be left out longer for future holiday dumping, to help address the disposal issue.