Residents urge clearer trash pickup, cleanup and Blue Acres buyout information during public comment
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Summary
Public commenters raised concerns at the Aug. 19 Linden council meeting about recurring trash left on sidewalks, food deliveries left in apartment lobbies, business impacts from Wonder Group expansion, flooding buyout meeting dates and local cleanup needs.
During public comment at the Aug. 19 Linden City Council meeting, residents raised several neighborhood concerns and asked for clearer city action and communication.
Craig Halloran, 120 Donaldson Place, reported persistent trash left at the corner of West Price Street and Donaldson Place and urged the city to enforce pickup or notify new residents about trash schedules. He also urged council careful review of redevelopment proposals to assess traffic and safety impacts.
Darryl Sadler, 104 East Elizabeth Avenue, asked for practical measures to reduce noise from the public corridor outside council chambers that makes it harder for attendees with hearing aids to follow proceedings. He also said donated food bags left in his building’s lobby repeatedly spoiled and requested that Mayor Armstead’s constituent services either stop delivering bulk bags to common lobbies or deliver them directly to intended recipients.
Council members responded to some concerns: the mayor’s office and constituent services said they would review delivery lists to ensure food is delivered to specific households or stopped if not requested. Council staff noted the public comment items were referred to appropriate departments for follow-up; the transcript records that the mayor’s office and constituent services would update their lists.
Other public comments included a resident’s request for data on citations for blocking intersections; that question was raised during a hearing on the “don’t block the box” ordinance and no citation frequency was provided during the meeting.
Why it matters: these comments reflect day‑to‑day quality‑of‑life issues—trash collection, litter, building-lobby deliveries and business operations—that frequently require coordination between constituent services, public works and code enforcement. Council members said they would have staff or constituent services follow up with residents after the meeting.
No formal council action on these issues was recorded during the public-comment portion; matters were forwarded to city staff for handling.