Residents in St. Louis are considering a class action lawsuit against the city for property damage that they claim has been caused by city trash trucks.
The city, which self-insures more than 60 trucks, faced over 320 damage reports during 2016. Roughly 78 percent of those claims were rejected.
Todd Waelterman, St. Louis’ executive director for operations, says the city will not honor claims that they believe are lacking evidence.
Plus, he says about half of its trucks are 2000 models which have frequent mechanical problems and won’t always perform the same movements when handling trash receptacles.
“The nickname is dumpster creep. You put the dumpster here and the next day it’s two inches down, and it’s four inches down. A new truck probably won’t do that,” Waelterman explained.
Residents have turned to local TV news station 5 On Your Side for help and are now threatening to bring a lawsuit against the city.
“I’m asking the city to own up, man up to what damage was incurred,” said resident Joe Miklovich who alleges that a St. Louis trash truck damaged his garage and siding.
Miklovich says he has surveillance video to support his claim. The city has denied his request for compensation.
