Bag it – that’s the bottom-line to much discussion the past week about how to address problems in Bruce with the county’s garbage service.
Bruce Mayor Rudy Pope told the board of aldermen at their regular monthly meeting last week that he continuously receives complaints about garbage carts not being emptied by the county.
“They pull a couple of bags out, but don’t get everything out,” Pope said.
It’s been a long running complaint in Bruce – loose trash left in the bottom of the big garbage carts provided to citizens by the town. When first issued more than a decade ago, citizens were told the garbage trucks would have a lift and the carts would be dumped, but the lifts are not often used for a variety of reasons.
The biggest issue in Bruce are the carts themselves. The original carts purchased by the town had a plastic bar across the front that easily broke after a couple of lifts.
“Dan Reese (Calhoun Solid Waste Director) told me we bought cheap carts,” Pope told the board.
The town has since purchased new carts with a metal bar to withstand the weekly lifting by the garbage truck, but there are still many carts throughout the town with the old broken plastic handle.
Calhoun City Mayor J.R. Denton said it’s not as big a problem there due to citizens being accustomed to bagging all their garbage.
“Before we got the cans, the county was picking up our garbage and it all had to be boxed up or in a bag,” Denton said. “I guess our people are sort of used to that. Even after we got the cans, we still stuck to that. We require everything be bagged before it’s put in the carts.”
“I’ll have some styrofoam cups or stuff like that down in the bottom of my can that got in there loose, but that’s usually it,” Denton said. “The only problem we’ve really had is them not closing the lids.”
Denton explained too many times the garbage is picked up, but the lid on the cart is not closed and then a big rain comes.
“You get a couple of inches of water in the bottom of those and they get heavy,” Denton said. “It takes some work to tip it over and get it emptied. You can just imagine the difficulty for some of our elderly citizens.”
“That’s a legitimate complaint we have to get fixed,” Reese said.
Many of the issues are attributed to prisoners being used as the work force.
“It definitely has an impact and you can’t expect the driver to get out at every stop to inspect,” Pope said. “That’s not realistic.”
Reese said they are working to address the various complaints on their end. He said the tippers on some of their trucks have been damaged recently and they are working to get them fixed.
“It would definitely be better for us if everybody would bag their garbage,” Reese said. “That said, we still need to do a better job of tipping the carts when we can.”
Another of the issues expressed at the Bruce Board meeting was leakage from the trucks spilling on the streets during the route leaving significant odor behind.
Alderwoman Ellen Shaw told the board in the meeting they had an incident at her store, Jeffery’s on the Bruce Square, where a garbage truck made the turn and leakage poured out into the road just beyond her front door.
“We had customers complaining about the smell,” Shaw told the board. “The fire department had to come hose off the street.”
“Leakage is a common complaint in the garbage business,” Reese said. “They don’t make a leak-proof garbage truck. It’s a hazard of the business, but we definitely want to do the best we can to limit it where possible.”
Reese, who manages the garbage service for six other counties as well, said these problems aren’t unique to Calhoun.
“These are all issues we are constantly working on, trying to improve,” Reese said. “
He noted they have approximately 6,000 garbage customers in Calhoun County.
“That’s 6,000 chances every week, 52 weeks a year, for something to go wrong,” Reese said. “There is always room for improvement and we are committed to providing the best service possible for the county.”
Mayor Pope said Bruce is looking to do its part by purchasing more carts that will meet all specifications, but they will be expensive.
“We are looking at buying 96 cans and it will cost right at $5,000 and that doesn’t include delivery,” Pope said.
Calhoun City recently purchased 50 new cans for $3,257.
“Garbage is one of those issues that’s a challenge for every town,” Pope said. “We appreciate Dan working to help address these issues.”
“Overall, we’re very pleased with the service,” Mayor Denton said.
Editor’s Note: Vardaman contracts with R.E.S. out of Ripley for their garbage service.