NATCHEZ, Miss. — Adams County supervisors have ruled out reducing trash pickup service to once a week as they seek options from waste companies to replace the one that went bankrupt last year.
They met today with company representatives interested in making proposals on the trash-collection costs and service alternatives for Adams County.
One option suggested to reduce costs and cope with worker shortages was to have curbside pickup reduced to once a week, but supervisors said residents demand their household garbage be hauled away twice a week, as it’s been for years.
“People are creatures of habit,” said Supervisor Wes Middleton, who noted garbage collection is among the critical services county residents take most seriously. “People do not take garbage lightly,” he said.
As the five county supervisors seek re-election later this year, Supervisor Ricky Gray pointed to the importance of contracting a waste company that meets residents’ demands. “I feel like trash is political — but it’s not political to me,” Gray said.
Metro Service Group since 2018 has been hauling off trash for about 5,500 Adams County households outside Natchez, but the New Orleans-based company filed for bankruptcy in October. Some county residents’ trash in recent weeks has gone uncollected as Metro struggled to fulfill its contracted twice-a-week service, according to county supervisors.
“Reliability is very important to me. We’ve had tons of calls when trash doesn’t get picked up,” county board President Warren Gaines said as he discussed what a newly contracted trash collector should do.
A restructured company sprung from Metro’s bankruptcy has a temporary contract to haul away Adams County’s household trash until the board selects a long-term collector. The temporary contractor is owned by Metro CEO Jimmie Woods.
The Board of Supervisors has set a Feb. 6 deadline for companies to submit propositions for getting the long-term contract for curbside pickup service. Company reps meeting with the board today were from Hometown, Waste Management, Waste Pro and Arrow Disposal Service. Arrow collects household trash for city residents inside Natchez three times a week: twice for regular garbage and once for recyclables.
In suggesting the county board consider once-a-week service as an option, Jimmie Moore of Arrow noted it’s a challenge finding people to do the arduous work of picking up household trash.
Unlike Natchez residents, county residents don’t have special pickup for recyclable trash — a service Gray said he doesn’t want if it cost extra for ratepayers.
Adams County households each currently pay $15 a month for twice-a-week service. Natchez residents pay $22.17 a month per household for their three-times-a-week trash collection.
Comments