FORT WAYNE, Ind. — It’s been nearly a month since Fort Wayne’s trash-collecting service filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, yet city leaders are still looking for more answers as to what the next steps will be.
Red River Waste Solutions filed for bankruptcy protection in late October. It’s been a contentious topic among city leaders since then. Company leaders at Red River have been asked multiple times to appear before the council to answer their questions, yet those requests have gone unheeded.
Now some councilors are thinking about taking legal action to get their questions answered.
“Time is of the essence and waiting around and hoping things get better for fours years has proven to be a poor strategy,” said City Councilor Russ Jehl. “I propose the city council invite Red River’s CEO to brie us directly, and when he rejects that we inquire the legality to subpoena him.”
A subpoena would require Red River company leaders to appear before the Fort Wayne City Council.
Red River Waste Solutions was contracted by the city in 2018 to be its trash collector for residents within city limits. In the four years since then, many residents have complained about missed pick-up, overflowing trash cans, and other grievances they have with the company.
Fort Wayne city attorney Jay Jaffe said last month that filing for bankruptcy protection affords Red River certain rights to allow them to restructure the company in order to move forward.
“Bankruptcy is an expensive proposition,” said Jaffe. “This company is a smaller company for a Chapter 11 case. They really can’t afford to stay in it that long.”
Red River informed the city last month that the bankruptcy process could take up to six months. In the meantime, the company has advised residents to expect service to continue as normal. The council has urged residents to call 311 if they have a missed trash collection.
