The Village & Groot Waste Disposal

Almost 25 years of living in this "lovely town", a past member of the Chamber, a past Park Board Member, a past Optimist Club Member, continued multiple business owner in town, owned two homes in Oswego, etc. I can tell you that I finally have had it. It was a rather small thing that pushed me over the edge, but the Village "Taj Majal" and their practices cemented it for me today. If you are still reading, please allow me to explain. The firm they the hired and re-hired to pick up the trash in the town, GROOT, evidently decided after the Thanksgiving weekend, NOT to run their standard route on Monday in Deerpath. Granted we received about 4.5" of snow and evidently that could have been a factor. I guess WINTER could be an excuse. Either way, the neighborhood trash sat out all night. Still not a big deal. We had a bit more than normal, but we also had 6 cardboard boxes out there, neatly arranged around the can and bags. The largest of which was a Honda lawn mower box that my wife could lay down in at 5 feet tall. The smallest is shoe box size. Today, Tuesday, a full day after normal pickup (again, no biggie but no t notified either) recycling was picked up early and after lunch, the rest was attacked. EXCEPT for 3 small boxes, all of which are literally empty. NOTE: The coffin sized Honda lawnmower box was picked up by the "generous" folks at GROOT. Shocked to find the 3 small boxes (none of which could hold a Thanksgiving turkey) still laying in the snow, we called the "ever helpful" Taj Majal or our Village Hall starting at 3:40..... Pressing "0" for the Operator and getting nobody for 7 calls in 17 minutes. Called GROOT, you know, the folks that charge us for garbage pick up and like $67 for stickers for leaf bags.... They said... "We can come back out for $35 and you will have to pay that when we get there" REALLY! So, they are telling me that they can do SOME of their pickup, but not ALL of their pickup unless we pay more?! Since I had a better chance of seeing Bigfoot than getting this fixed, I drove to the Mecca on The Hill ( The Village Hall ). I mean they are supposed to be open and I guess, answering the phone until 5pm like their website says. Upon arrival, yet again, I couldn't help but snicker once again at the giant empty hall, the baby grand piano (for what reason??) and proceeded to the second window. Explained my issue after having to ring the bell on the desk, even though several employees were huddled at one cubical chatting. I asked "who answers the phone when you hit "0" for the operator?" and she said... "we all do". Yeah, right! After 10 minutes of back and forth, her suggestion was for me to break down the boxes and stuff them in my recyclable container. Keeping in mind two things. #1 Recycling is NOT a mandatory requirement even though we do it and #2 Breaking down the boxes is NOT a requirement listed on the Village website, NOR in the GROOT flier she handed me. So, my "fix" per KATHY (she literally wouldn't give me her last name because she said she NEVER gives out her last name but said she is the only KATHY there) hahaha, is to break down the stuff GROOT refused to take, the SMALL stuff, keep it for another week and jam it into my recycle box. Or, I could wait in the echo chamber halls of the Village for Mr. Dan DiSanto for 30 minutes or so for his explanation. Keeping in mind that these folks are the ones that made the decision to hire GROOT. While not the biggest deal, I know, it really just shows that the Village doesn't give a rats rip to help or even answer their phones for 17 minutes of constant calling. I am just sick of it. Really sick of it. Thanks for reading, if you haven't nodded off by now. I have 3 boxes to pick up so they won't be out there for another week.