Garbage, Garbage, Everywhere
Not first on the agenda, but the hottest topic of Monday night’s Commission meeting was garbage collection. Centreville Mayor Terry Morton took the podium to address the Commission on behalf of the city. According to the mayor, residents call city hall almost daily to complain about non-pickup of garbage. The city has documented and logged all complaints, of which they brought a folder full to show. City Councilor Don Mack also spoke, attesting that the East Town neighborhood has gone five weeks with inconsistent and in many cases no garbage service. “Some people have taken to burning their trash,” Mack said.
Mayor Morton insisted that the City has tried multiple times to address these complaints with Waste Pro. “The customer service people have always been nice,” Morton said, but added that nothing ever gets done, and calling has had no effect on the problem. Morton stated his opinion that the company needed to come “to the field” and see what their collection workers are and aren’t doing. According to the mayor, many of the issues have been blamed on garbage trucks and equipment breaking down.
Commissioner Caddell added to the mayor’s concerns, stating that the issue with consistent pickup wasn’t only within city limits. Where the Commissioner lives, he said, often pickup is days late, which can result in wild animals handling the garbage before the trucks show up, creating a huge and unsanitary mess.
Morton continued, stating that residents ask about refunds for their payments, and he wondered who they should contact to inquire about one. Despite this, the consensus seemed to be that refunds wouldn’t be possible, but that if the issues aren’t corrected by Waste Pro, their contract with the county would be in jeopardy when it comes up for renewal in October.
After the mayor took his seat, an unfamiliar face took the podium. Waste Pro Municipal Manager V Adams addressed the Commission and Mayor Morton’s stated concerns. According to Ms. Adams, the “customer service” people that the mayor mentioned being so nice were actually just call center people and the people at Waste Pro who could do anything about it haven’t been getting the messages. After a few more excuses levied, she conceded that operational issues needed to be addressed within Waste Pro.
Showing a bit of frustration, however, Ms. Adams also stated that she has attempted multiple times to contact Centreville officials about the complaints she has heard, and has never been able to get in touch with anyone and never gotten a call back. After voices got a little more heated, Ms. Adams stated she would love to have a meeting with Centreville City Council to discuss the problems and solutions.
Roads and Right of Ways
County Engineer Jeff McKinney again requested the Commission allow him to bid on a used lowboy truck for the road department to replace an aged piece of equipment. After striking out a few times in the past, the Commission this time liked the looks of the deal and passed a motion to allow a bid on the truck, after a test drive of course.
The Engineer’s conversation also turned to the previous issue of the Hill Place right-of-way problem and the tight turn in that road which keeps emergency vehicles from being able to get to half of the neighborhood. He stated that much of the work needed to make the curve passable has been done, but that there was still a problem with the prescriptive right of way. Apparently the property owner at the point of concern has not been cooperative with the County, and is refusing to allow the work to be done. County Attorney Anthony Johnson said that despite the apparent ambiguity of available maps and aerial photos regarding the historical placement of the road, his office will be addressing the safety issue of residents with the property owner preventing the road from being made passable.
Courthouse Security
County EMA Director Kirk Smith spoke to the Commission regarding courthouse security improvements, this time bringing a new idea from a judge to close the front doors of the courthouse and only leave the two side doors operational for entry purposes. Some discussion of the practicality and alternative ideas resulted in the Commission voting to table this idea until they are able to hear Sheriff Jody Wade’s opinion at a future date.
Fair Housing Month
A proclamation passed to declare April 2019 “Fair Housing Month” in Bibb County. Why this exists and to what purpose and effect, was not discussed.
New Chairman
Following the rules, the seat of Chair and Vice-Chair of the County Commission rotated, beginning at midnight Monday the 8th. Replacing Chairman Holdsambeck is Commissioner Stabler as the new Chairman. Commissioner Kelly is the new Vice-Chairman.
Different Garbage
County Attorney Johnson updated the Commission on the state of the contract with Big Sky, the company that operates the transfer station. They are behind on their payments to the county, and their contract is up for renewal. The County Attorney has been in contact with Big Sky about getting caught up on their payments.
An Update and Correction
Speaking with Commissioner Stabler after the meeting, it seems the report that he intended to find grant money to re-activate the storm sirens (as stated in my previous report No More Automatic Tornado Sirens in Bibb: Do We Need Them?) was not correct. Mr. Stabler said he must have been mis-heard when discussing the topic. “This new system with the phones works great!” he said of the Bibb Alert system. “I can see how people in town would want the sirens back, and I’d be for that if it was possible. But it’s really just prohibitively expensive.”
