DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Apartment residents say they're concerned for their health.
They say conditions at Colony Ridge Apartments in Decatur are unsanitary and attract rodents and stray animals.
Residents say they have to pile the trash where the dumpsters used to be but it's a scattered mess where they live and their kids play.
Channel 2's Carl Willis looked through the complex and counted five spots where the trash was out collecting on curbs and dumpsters nowhere to be found.
"Sure. It's unsanitary. It's unsanitary for all of us," said resident Frances Douglas.
Residents reached out to Channel 2 Action News after hitting dead ends.
Ken Fowler says he called code enforcement about the problem.
"They made me aware that the dumpster bill has not been paid and they removed all the dumpsters until they pay the bill," he said.
Willis went to the leasing office to ask questions during regular business hours, but they closed early.
"But they want that rent money. Hell or high water, they want that rent money," said resident Darlene Tribble.
Residents say a portion of that rent should be going to the trash collection fees. They say the trash is occasionally collected by someone.
"They'll have the workers come out here and put it in a car and roll it somewhere," said resident Nikita Forbes.
But they say the time in between those pickups, when the trash is exposed is the concern.
"I don't think it's healthy for the kids playing around. The cats, possums, birds and the smell and everything the flies going into people's apartments," Fowler said.
Channel 2 reached out to DeKalb County to get more information about what is happening. Willis expects to hear from the county spokesperson Wednesday.
WSBTV
