Welcome to Bay View?

This was the dramatic state of the dumpsters behind G. Groppi’s Food Market, 1441 East Russell Ave., in the morning of April 13.

Market co-owner John Nehring, when contacted for comment about the state of the back of his lot, said that Waste Management truck drivers have a difficult time getting their truck into the area behind the store. “Once in a while they can’t get in, and they leave the trash,” he said, from his  Shorewood Sendik’s store. But even so, he added, we should not permit the recyclables to get to this state.

Since the expansion of the building last year, which reduced the area of the parking lot on the west side of the market, access to the dumpsters is restricted by the current placement of the large green containers.

Nehring said that within a month or so, the parking lot will be repaved and the curb cut to allow garbage trucks to back into the lot. The surface will be paved with poured concrete; the dumpster area will be fenced so the bins will no longer be visible from the street and sidewalk.

Some of the residents near the store have complained about the odors produced by the refuse behind Groppi’s.

“I live a couple blocks away from Groppi’s, on Russell Avenue,” said Joseph Surcharda. “My family and I shop there frequently—even though their beer prices are way out of line, but that’s another issue, ha-ha—and also walk past their property quite a bit on our neighborhood jaunts. Where [the dumpsters] are positioned now, you can see and smell all of their garbage… It creates a horrible first impression of their store for anyone shopping there, and I’m definitely not the only one that thinks this way.”

Another resident who lives on Wentworth Avenue near the store, but who didn’t want to be identified, said that the garbage often reeks, especially during the warm weather.

Nehring said that he pays $500 a month to have the garbage picked up at Groppi’s. They recycle as much material as possible but can’t recycle the waxed boxes that much of their produce is delivered in.

When asked if he worked with Kompost Kids (see page 1),  he said he was not aware of the organization’s services but planned to consult with them.

Nehring arranged for the recyclables to be packed up in Bay View and transferred to his Sendik’s store within an hour of the Compass’ contact for comment about the overflowing dumpsters.

Nehring said he intends to establish a second patio in a section of the renovated back lot this summer.

Copyright 2013 by Bay View Compass. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.