By Crystal McGough, Associate Editor
PINSON – As more and more complaints have been coming into City Hall regarding missed garbage and recycling pickups, in addition to other Waste Management concerns, Mayor Joe Cochran and the Pinson City Council are actively taking measures to get answers and reparations for the residents of Pinson.
In an effort to address these concerns, the mayor and council invited Waste Management representatives Mike Mitchell and Ken McClain to the Jan. 5, 2023, meeting of the Pinson City Council.
“I know you’ve had some operational concerns and service issues with the residents here in Pinson,” WM Birmingham District Manager Ken McClain said. “First of all, I do apologize. As a company, we strive to … place all of our customers first and foremost and try to service all of you on specified service days. We all know there are labor shortages that have affected our operation and getting drivers trained – hired, trained and staying on board with our company. I know we all continue to kind of deal with it across the waste industry, transportation industry, I think every industry right now.
“So just looking at our plan moving forward, I know I’ve made several hires for new residential drivers coming on board. I have drivers right now who are in Florida being trained. They’ll come back, they’ll go out onto their routes (and) it’ll add to our staffing and allow us to get drivers out in these trucks and into these neighborhoods to service you.”
Mayor Cochran said that, while staffing shortages are understandable, it doesn’t change the fact that residents have been paying for a service they haven’t been receiving.
“I have reports around the city of some people going six weeks without having a pickup,” he said. “I understand what the dilemmas are, but at the same time, the peoples’ bill continues to come every quarter, and they keep paying it, so they need some recourse or something from you guys … Discount their bill for a quarter (or) something.”
Cochran explained that, according to the contract, the company’s policy for a customer to receive compensation for a missed pick-up is that each individual must call Waste Management and request a credit.
“When it’s this widespread, I think we should seek a different solution for that,” he said. “We should seek some credit toward these peoples’ bills across the contract. I know that’s beyond the scope of what you can authorize, but I’m just saying, for the citizens of Pinson, I think that would be an appropriate first step.”
Cochran said that the municipality’s job is to fight for the people of Pinson, and that’s what they’re trying to do.
“These people in these neighborhoods, they want to put their can out and then, that evening, go get it in. But they’re staying out, and staying out, and staying out,” he said. “It diminishes the neighborhood; makes it look bad. You have animals getting into it. It’s just a big mess. So, my request to you guys is to go back to your people and say, ‘How can you give some sort of credit to the people of Pinson for the lack of service that has been ongoing for two years?’”
McClain told the mayor and council that he would bring that suggestion to his chain of command.
Additionally, Councilor Robbie Roberts mentioned that he had brought this issue before the council about a month ago where he asked the city attorney if there was any sort of legal action the city could take if the issues were not resolved.
“I’ve had a running joke about the fact that some people were starting to put Christmas decorations on their garbage cans in order to give them a holiday, festive look, because they were literally out there at the streets so long,” Roberts said. “Is your explanation, basically, to these folks, a staff shortage has continued? Is that why it hasn’t been picked up?”
McClain confirmed that the main issue is a staff shortage that has continued, and that he has been making efforts to hire new staff and get them trained as soon as possible.
“We’ve tried to put several new hires, putting them on that route,” McClain said. “That’s why on certain Thursdays, you might see some services on certain streets and then none on another. Just, kind of, trying to train the new hires and unfortunately … in the training program, some folks just don’t make it all the way through. We are working towards getting a solidified driver to work on each Thursday to service that route and service those customers.”
Once the council members felt they had thoroughly addressed each concern, McClain and Mitchell left and the council attended to other city business, approving the following agenda items:
- Reappointment of Chris Esquire to the Planning and Zoning Commission
- Resolution 23-01, awarding a contract for municipal cleaning services in the amount of $4,181/month
- Ordinance 2023-01, agreeing to participate in the State Emergency Preparedness holiday Feb. 24-26, and the State Sales Tax holiday on the third weekend of July 2023
- Ordinance 2023-02, authorizing the city to lease real estate located at 7520 Faucett Cutoff Road to a city employee who will serve as an onsite caretaker/overseer of the Pinson Softball Fields
The next regular meeting of the Pinson City Council will be Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023, at Pinson City Hall. A pre-council meeting will be held at 6:15 p.m., followed by the 7 p.m. meeting.
Crystal McGough can be contacted at mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com