Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 115, No. 15	April 9, 2008

Garbage transition moves smoothly, new operator says

By LARRY SEE JR.
Messenger Staff

A new set of garbage trucks lumbered down Meade County roads March 31.

But the transition was problem-free between Waste Transport and Meade County, Waste Transport owner Wayne Smith said.

The transition was several months in the making and resulted in two bid rounds after Fiscal Court members rejected the first round, due to possible impropriety.

One of the bidders in the first round allegedly didn’t understand one of the questions, causing the county to re-open the entire process. That bidder wasn’t awarded the contract.

Smith said Monday was a different route day for some, speculating that could be why a lot of receptacles weren’t outside.

“There were only about 50 to 60 percent of the cans,” Smith said. “We think it was a combination of it being a different route day or the fact they were just emptied on Thursday and didn’t have a lot of garbage built up yet.”

Smith said crews had a 95-percent pickup rate April 1, adding they went over the Monday route Wednesday to make sure no one was missed.

“We just wanted to see if anyone had set their garabge out or they were missed the first time around,” Smith said. Despite the barrage of advertising the transition received, there were still those who might have missed the change, for whatever reason.

“As far as the service day change, I think a lot of people watch their neighbors and put out their garbage when they do,” he said. “They didn’t receive any correspondence from us on it, unless they read the paper.”

Smith also said, true to his earlier statements, 10 county employees were retained when the transition occurred.

“I sent a couple of my people to help them on the first day with the route sheets and other information,” he said.

“We also had a couple of calls from people who said we didn’t get their garbage,” Smith said. “There were about 10 of them. We asked them to go out and check and they did. Come to find out they were not used to their previous haulers putting their lids back on (the cans).”

Waste Transport Service collection schedule

Old pickup day New pickup day
Tuesday Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday
Thursday Monday
Friday Friday

Click Here to Go Back