Some dumpsters at Lew McGinnis-owned apartment buildings were still overflowing with trash Monday while an attorney for Eucalyptus LLC on Tuesday assured Topeka City Council members the issue had been resolved.
“It’s not a problem anymore. There are new dumpsters,” said Frederick Redwine during Tuesday’s council meeting. “They are picked up two and three times a week. There’s no more trash problem.”
On Monday, a reporter for The Capital-Journal visited the same five properties it had visited in December when residents complained of massive piles of trash and inconsistent emptying of dumpsters.
Two still had dozens of trash bags, boxes and other items covering the ground around the overfilled dumpsters, while rubbish at a third site was being cleaned up by an employee.
New dumpsters are in place at Crown Point Apartments, 3711 S.W. Park, but as of Monday afternoon, the dumpster was still overflowing with trash.
Eucalyptus employee says winter storm delayed cleanup efforts
While Meadowlark Apartments, 1701 S.W. 37th, and Crown Point Apartments, 3711 S.W. Park S. Court, still had overflowing trash, each of the five properties visited had new green Waste Management dumpsters.
And another University Heights, 1510 S.W. Lane St., had an Eucalyptus employee working to clear rubbish from around the dumpster.
The employee wouldn’t disclose his name to The Capital-Journal but said he was hired by McGinnis. He said after the new dumpsters were placed on sites, the Jan. 5 snowfall forced the company to delay cleanup.
Trash had been cleared around dumpsters at College Hill Apartments, 1425 S.W. Lane St., and Library Park Apartments, 1037 S.W. Garfield Ave.
City of Topeka had cited Lew McGinnis for violations
In a Dec. 16 news release, the city of Topeka said it was “actively addressing concerns regarding overflowing dumpsters at multiple properties owned by a local landlord.”
“The city’s Property Maintenance Unit has been in contact with the landlord and has issued the appropriate citations in accordance with city ordinances,” said the city of Topeka.
But two weeks later, apartment sites still hadn’t seen new dumpsters as some had been removed and trash piles grew larger on the ground. On Dec. 31, the city of Topeka said it was continuing to address the ongoing concerns and conducted a series of coordinated cleanup efforts to remove rubbish.
“Despite previous engagement and citations issued by the city’s Property Maintenance Unit, the property owner failed to clean up the affected sites within the allotted timeframe,” the city said in a news release.
The city said it plans to charge the cost of the cleanup to McGinnis. It also said criminal affidavits for the violations would be processed.
Waste Management dumpsters have been placed at Eucalyptus LLC. owned properties in Topeka.
Attorney for Lew McGinnis defends company’s actions to city council
Eucalyptus attorney Redwine on Tuesday told city council members the trash overflow at 34 Eucalyptus properties in Topeka was misconstrued, adding that the company didn’t let its trash contracts with then-provider LRS lapse.
“What caused our problem with the trash for the city and our residents (is) LRS retaliated against Eucalyptus because they heard we were shopping for a new vendor, a new national vendor that could actually take care of the job and handle the properties in the correct way for residents, for the city and for our properties,” he said. “They were under enforceable contracts but beginning in the week of Thanksgiving and through the first of the year, LRS refused to pick up any trash. They did not do their job.”
Redwine said Eucalyptus is sorry for the trash backlog. Redwine said complaints were valid and Eucalyptus resolved the issue swiftly by finding a new trash vendor.
“You haven’t heard much from us because we were tasked with remediating a major problem and we got on it and did our job,” Redwine said. “… And like I said, we didn’t cause, it but we did correct it.”
One of the new dumpsters at Meadowlark Apartments, 1701 S.W. 37th St., still had rubbish around it on Monday. Some dumpsters at the apartment site had been cleared of overflow.
Topeka mayor tells apartment tenants that they are being heard
Four residents at different Eucalyptus-owned properties aired complaints during Tuesday’s council meeting.After the residents spoke, Mayor Mike Padilla said the governing board does “not have deaf ears to the complaints heard.”“And we’re ready to act on our responsibilities, as expected,” Padilla said. “So I just want the general public to know that as they spoke here today.”
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Why did trash begin to pile up at Eucalyptus LLC. owned properties?
Eucalyptus Real Estate LLC filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against LRS South LLC on Jan. 3.
The company’s lawsuit described the situation as an “accumulation and unsafe overflow of trash” with “unsanitary conditions” affecting about 40 of its properties in Topeka, The Capital-Journal reported.
“Eucalyptus has been criminally cited by the City of Topeka due to LRS’s breach,” alleges the lawsuit, which was signed by Eucalyptus attorney Meredith Monaco.
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The lawsuit indicates that LRS stopped picking up trash from Eucalyptus because the waste management company believed the rental company hadn’t paid its invoices. But Eucalyptus maintains that it had paid its bills and alleges that LRS has a history of poor recordkeeping.
The Capital-Journal reached out to Monaco on Monday and Tuesday afternoon but didn’t hear back from her.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lew McGinnis attorney: Topeka trash crisis is resolved. What we found