FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Fort Wayne’s Public Works Department has said “no” to a request by several Fort Wayne City Council members to hire a part-time employee to keep an eye on the city’s trash contractor, the Journal Gazette reports.

Councilman Russ Jehl pitched the idea several months ago of a $3,000-a-month employee to act as a public liaison for complaints about Red River Waste Solutions in the wake of thousands of missed collections and total fines of more than $1-million in 2018.

Trash pickups have improved this year, with a 75% reduction in complaints, and the City told Jehl and the four other Council members who signed a letter making the request – Paul Ensley, Jason Arp, Glynn Hines, and John Crawford – that anyone who needs to report problems can just call 311.