By Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – On July 1, the town of Shrewsbury began a new solid waste program with its new provider, Waste Management.
At the July 23 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, Assistant Town Manager Kristen Las reported that there have been some “bumps in the road.” Las, who was filling in for vacationing Town Manager Kevin Mizikar, read a statement that he prepared for the meeting.
“I want to provide an update on solid waste collections given the performance of the last few weeks. Town officials and I met again with Waste Management this morning [July 19.] As a result of this meeting Waste Management will have additional trucks increasing from four to five trucks on each route, each day” Mizikar said via the statement. “The Thursday routes are disproportionate to other routes and it takes longer to get to them. Therefore, additional resources will be provided to see that it is completed on time.”
From the start, many residents have not been pleased with the new provider and were not shy about voicing their concerns on social media. Confusion over new procedures aside, many said that their trash and/or recycling had not been picked up at all, prompting a barrage of phone calls to Waste Management and Town Hall.
The situation came to a head and on July 19 Mizikar and other town officials met to discuss performance issues with Waste Management.
“I apologize to the residents for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience as we work through this transition. Please be assured I will do everything in my power to ensure that this service is what residents expect,” Mizikar said in closing.
Selectman John Lebeaux inquired whether there would be a tag on the recycling bin if it was passed over or unacceptable for some reason.
Las stated that within the first two weeks of the program everything was tagged whether the recycling put out was unacceptable or on the wrong week.
“I have a concern if they needed more trucks to accomplish a task that they should know given their national and international scope, what level of assurance do we have that they won’t come back seeking additional compensation because clearly their performance today has been abysmal…?” he asked.
“The split body trucks that they ordered that they were supposed to deploy on day one have been delayed,” Las responded.
She suggested that see how the situation plays out once those trucks are in play, adding that town management is reviewing every aspect of the contract related to this issue.
“I agree with everything that my colleagues have said up to now and it’s extremely frustrating for the residents…my bigger concern is making sure the trash is off the road because it’s a public health issue,” Selectman Beth Casavant added. “We want to make sure they understand that this is a poor reflection on our decision to move forward with their contract. We really expect some improvement.”
In a statement to the Community Advocate after the meeting, Jim Nocella, area director of public sector solutions for Waste Management, responded that the company has been in communication with the town.
“I think the things that we are encountering are just getting people to get their materials out at 7 a.m., just in case we are going to be in their neighborhood at a different time than they expected and monitoring the change in the recycling program so that they are putting out the correct commodity each week which is the biggest change that the residents are dealing with,” he stated.
For more information, visit https://shrewsburyma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5464/Solid-Waste-and-Recycling-FAQ-June-2019.
