JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It's a stinky, messy, downright ugly scene at one Jacksonville apartment complex.
Residents at Villages of Baymeadows Apartments say trash has been piled up next to the dumpster for more than a week, and several are concerned it's a major health problem.
"I mean, shoot, you've got glass. If my kids -- not like my kids would be playing up in the trash -- but still, shards of that could go everywhere," resident Stefanie Olson said. "You've got diapers housing disgusting fecal matter, old food."
That's just some of what's popping out of the giant trash pile, but residents say it's what they can't see that's most alarming.
"We were concerned there would be rats and things running around here," Johnny Albritton Jr. said.
Residents say someone didn't get the memo, because the trash is not only in the dumpster, it's covering the stairs and the walls around it.
It's such an eyesore that even one of the maintenance men couldn't help but share his concern with Olson the other day.
"He shook his head in disgust and said, 'I hope the news doesn't get ahold of it,'" Olson said.
"I was just telling my wife, 'Is the garbage man on strike? I don't know,'" Albritton said.
Olson said she pays $10 a month for a valet service to take her trash from a container by her apartment and take it to the dumpster, but she said she'd rather leave it in the container than have it all over the street.
Olson said she's called management several times but gets the same answer -- that they're addressing the situation.
"Disgust, danger for kids, like this young lady here, her kids," Albritton said. "It's not good. It's going to be a mess after a while. It's going to be a real mess."
Apartment management asked News4Jax to leave the property Thursday and did not comment or provide a statement.
Advanced Disposal, which owns the dumpsters, said it is not far from that location and is running a full service with no trucks down. The company said it couldn't go into any more detail but that residents should continue reaching out to the apartment complex.