MORGANTOWN — Morgantown City Councilor Jenny Selin said her 4th Ward constituents are tired of paying for inconsistent service from trash and recycling hauler Republic Services — and they’re not alone.
“I’ve had enough,” Selin said during the latest session of council, explaining that she recently met with representatives of the hauler along with, among others, City Manager Paul Brake and fellow council members Rachel Fetty and Barry Wendell.
“This seems to have particularly affected those in the fourth and seventh wards, because we have the unlucky Friday service,” she said. She noted that when Republic falls behind during the week “chaos ensues” for those with Friday pickups.
“So either your trash isn’t picked up or your recycling isn’t picked up, which is always confusing because you would think both would leave on the same day, as is specified in the contract,” she said.
Due to an exclusive agreement, which was just renewed for five years last March, Republic is the only trash and recycling hauler permitted to operate in the city. As the contract was backdated to the fall of 2017, when the previous agreement ended, this is actually year two of the deal.
Throughout its relationship with the city, the service provided by Republic has been a reoccurring problem. In recent years, representatives of the hauler have been invited before council fairly frequently to hear the frustrations routinely fielded by council members and city administration.
In an attempt to lessen the burden on Republic and allow it to focus solely on trash and recycling, the city (MUB) took over billing for the hauler last May, setting up a single payer system in which the city pays Republic directly and is then reimbursed when MUB collects the bills.
As with the cost of most services, those bills get larger every year, adding to customer frustrations.
According to the contract, come Oct. 1, the start of year three of the current deal, Republic’s monthly rates will jump from $17.64 to $18.17. Rates will climb to $18.72 in year four and $19.28 in year five.
Added to those base rates are a $1 charge for billing through MUB, a charge — currently 80 cents — for electronics pickup available once per month by request, and a fuel surcharge regulated by the West Virginia Public Service Commission.
The charge for electronics pickup is paid by every customer regardless of use and goes up five cents annually.
The contract also includes a schedule of penalties the city can levy against Republic. To this end the hauler must maintain $5,000 in a joint bank account with the city.
The following penalties are spelled out in the contract:
— Collection of residential waste prior to 6 a.m. — $100 per incident
— Failure to collect spillage — $50 per incident
— Failure to collect waste or recyclables within one business day of notification of missed service — $50 per incident
— Each additional missed service of an account within a six-month period following a notification of missed service — $50 per incident
— Missed service of one block, consisting of one side of one street between cross streets — $500 per incident
— Failure to replace or fix commercial container within 10 days of notice — $50 per day.
The city manager ultimately determines when and if noncompliance will result in penalties. According to the city’s communications office, no penalties have been levied since the contract was adopted.
“City officials understand the frustration of residents and at the meeting it was made clear to Republic that, per the new contract, if these problems continue the city has the right to levy penalties,” Communications Manager Andrew Stacy explained.
Selin said the meeting focused primarily on poor communication and missed service, which Republic explained is due primarily to a lack of drivers.
She said anyone not receiving messages from Republic regarding their service should make sure their proper phone number is listed with their billing information.
In the meantime, Selin said she’s hearing from constituents that service is worse now than ever, at least on Friday routes.
“Some people wanted to have their day changed, which we’re not going to do at this point because that would just transfer the problems to someone else,” she said. “Customers are completely fed up.”
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Morgantown Area News
'Wednesday, November 13, 2024'
