NATCHEZ, Miss. –The Adams County board today approved an emergency short-term contract with the owner of the trash-collecting company that struggled to ensure county residents’ garbage would be picked up as it went bankrupt.
At the same time, Adams County supervisors will seek proposals from other waste companies to consider next month for a long-term contract.
The board approved a three-month agreement with what it called “NewCo,” which board attorney Scott Slover is the “same company, more or less,” as Metro Service Group, the bankrupt garbage company that sought to sever its contract with Adams County.
“NewCo is a term of art for when the same owner of a company purchases all assets from a bankruptcy,” Slover said. “So it is fair to say Metro Services will remain the pick-up company until the request-for-proposal process can go forward” for getting other waste companies to submit bids.
The New Orleans-based Metro Services filed for bankruptcy in October and wanted to stop hauling out Adams County’s trash.
To ensure about 5,000 Adams County households’ curbside garbage collection continues, supervisors agreed to the temporary contract while they seek and consider bids from other companies Another trash collector serves residents living inside Natchez.
The trash contract with the reorganized company has the county being charged $19 a month for each household. This is cheaper than proposals from other companies making emergency bids to collect Adams County garbage, said Supervisor Wes Middleton.
The $15 that Adams County residents have been directly charged a month per household will remain unchanged for their twice-a-week garbage collection. Natchez residents pay $22.17 a month per household for their three-times-a-week trash collection (one for recyclables) by Arrow Disposal Service.
Adams County residents with trash-collection concerns can telephone the county sanitation department: 601 445-7903.
Metro had asked a bankruptcy judge to let it terminate the contract with Adams County for curbside trash-pickup service. It’s been hauling off trash for the county since 2018 when the Board of Supervisors approved the original contract.
Supervisor Kevin Wilson noted today that Metro’s bid then was far lower than other competitors. While he wasn’t on the board in 2018, Wilson said the contract terms offered then by Metro seemed financially unsustainable and “would probably be a disaster – and it turned into one.”
Metro – which has been serving other communities in Louisiana and Mississippi – has been plagued over the past couple of years by worker shortages, broken equipment, pickup delays and other troubles, according to various reports. It lost its contract with New Orleans after trash piled up on the streets in the wake of Hurricane Ida in 2021. Metro’s bankruptcy filing in October came amid legal disputes with New Orleans.
Metro has been among the South’s most prominent Black-owned businesses. Its co-founder and chief executive is Jimmie Woods, who also sits on the LSU Board of Supervisors.
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