Automated Garbage Pickup In The County Starts In April
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Waste Management Account Manager Kerry Howell (standing) explained some of the changes coming using an automated side loader on the garbage trucks.
COFFEEVILLE – Waste Management will start using new garbage trucks equipped with automated side loaders (ASL) to pick up garbage cans in the county in early April and an educational campaign informing the public about the changes is underway.
Waste Management account representative Kerry Howell told supervisors during Monday’s meeting that all customers in the county will receive a postcard in the coming week explaining the changes. The coming automation includes cameras that will allow the driver to position the loader and tip the cart, eliminating a second employee on the truck.
“There will be a few things we will do different, mostly dealing with how the cart is placed (on the road),” Howell told supervisors during the meeting at the Coffeeville courthouse. He provide samples of the postcard that will be mailed to all county garbage customers. The postcards have specific instructions that included pointing the wheels on the cart toward the house. Howell also said all trash must fit inside the cart and trash placed outside the cart will not be collected. Carts will have to be placed within three to five feet of the curbs. Carts also have to be at least three feet apart and at least three feet from any objects such as a vehicle or mailbox.
Howell also said Waste Management will try to keep the schedule the same, meaning customers’ pickup days will not change. He also said there will be a few roads in the county where trash will be picked up only on one side, meaning some customers will have to place their carts on the opposite side of the road from their home.
Waste Management Grenada operations manager Kenneth Wicker said the new trucks are six feet longer and six inches taller than the current trucks used to pick up garbage. He said the new trucks take about five seconds to dump each cart.
“There is no question it is going to be a transition, we are going to get calls, y’all are going to get calls,” Board President Cayce Washington noted during the meeting.
The change comes after supervisors awarded a new bid to Waste Management for garbage pickup in the county last month. Waste Management bid $19.95 per can if pickup changes to using an automated side loader. The company bid $28.95 per can each month without switching to the automated side loader and supervisors opted for the less expensive bid.
Supervisor also approved a 37 percent rate increase for pickup last month, pushing the monthly rate customers pay from $17.50 to $24 starting next month. Waste Management has provided residential garbage pickup in the Yalobusha County since 2013 and charged $19.05 per can per month for approximately 3,300 customers before the new contract was adopted.
Supervisors settled charging $24 dollar per month after the operating expenses for the garbage department including labor were calculated at $3.62 per can per month, making $23.57 the break-even point for the county.
