Bridge City Sanitation addresses council concerns

Feb. 1—OTTUMWA — Whenever City of Ottumwa officials get calls regarding Bridge City Sanitation's service, they usually fall into two buckets: the early hour of pickup, and customer service.

Jason Blunt and Keith Lewis, who operate the sanitation service, addressed those issues and more Tuesday.

Blunt and Lewis discussed their service during a city council work session at City Hall, as they near the end of the second year of a 10-year contract the council approved in 2021. The service isn't perfect, but when it comes to working in good faith to live up to the contract, Blunt and Lewis believe that is happening.

"If there are any concerns by council members, and if they get them to city staff, we address them right away," Lewis said. "One of the bigger concerns was about our fleet of trucks. Since we renewed this contract, we have replaced the auto arm trucks and recycling trucks. So nine different trucks are in place.

"They might look similar to the other trucks, but we've improved that fleet and spent just under a million in equipment."

Blunt said the company receives "800 to 900 calls a month, but of those, 100 are actual misses or something that needs action." Lewis backed his colleague, saying the company picks up a tote "about 36,000 times a month." Most of the calls, Blunt said, are for yard waste.

Mayor Rick Johnson said he's received about a dozen calls over the past year, mostly stemming from what the resident perceives as "poor customer service" on the other end of the line.

"I stand behind both my girls," Blunt said. "They're very, very polite. They are very professional until they don't need to be, until they've been pushed too far."

Blunt presented pictures of how trash shouldn't be set out on a curb; residents have a 64-gallon container in which bagged trash needs to be stored, but people stack multiple bags on top of the container when it is already full and don't have tags to indicate extra trash. Also, collectors have found animals have gotten into the trash before pick-up.

City director of community development Zach Simonson said excess trash will "raise the rates for everybody" because Bridge City Sanitation has to pay additional landfill fees. However, he did say that if residents needed an extra tote, it would cost about $17 a month on top of the first $17 tote.

Also, one of the biggest complaints stems from the collection of bulky items. Under the contract, residents may only place one bulky item on the curb per week for collection, or 52 items in a year.

"When it comes to bulk items, we run into a whole array of things," Blunt said. "Sometimes it's a single mattress, a couch, a single chair. Sometimes it's an entire living room or bedroom set.

"In the last contract it was only one item, and that carried over into this one," he said. "That's what we stand by. That's how it works."

Council member Cara Galloway, however, wanted clarification, considering the contract states "the contractor agrees to provide weekly bulky item collection to designated customers one bulky item per household will be collected at no additional charge."

"I read that as I can have one with no charge, but if there's additional, I would be assessed a charge."

Blunt said discussions have taken place regarding multiple items, but "we haven't really come together with a real good idea yet."

Galloway also pointed out complaints about pick-up time that is before the stated 6 a.m. in the contract, except from Memorial Day through Labor Day, which is 5 a.m.

"I've gotten calls that it's been way before that, like 4 a.m., and that it's disrupting people's sleep," she said.

Lewis said the company needs to have its drivers on their routes by 6 a.m. He said they would try to work with drivers in a more timely fashion, but acknowledged the start time was one of the more contentious aspects in ironing out the new contract.

"We'll have to double check on when they're actually getting to the route," Lewis said. "We don't want them initiating their service day at 6 a.m., and we need them on the routes as early as possible. We have to get started on time, but we will address that. We shouldn't be hours earlier by any means."

Two residents spoke on the service — one saying the collection has been flawless in his neighborhood, and another vehemently opposed to the service to the point where the city should "break the contract."

"The service picking up my stuff has been perfect," said Jim Cain, who lives on Meadowdale Street on Ottumwa's north side. "I've never had any problems whatsoever. I think we're lucky to have them. That's all I want to say."

Jeff Dudman took the opposite stance. He came from Galesburg, Illinois, where Waste Management was the trash collection contractor.

"First off, I think a 10-year contract was way outside what should have ever been considered," said Dudman, who lives on Chester Avenue on Ottumwa's south side. "My trash bin was damaged, and it took four weeks — four weeks — for the repair to actually be completed. Bridge City lacks proactivity; nobody stopped by, nobody called or checked in.

"A neighbor of mine placed an oversized item at the curb and it sat there for about three weeks. I've had yard waste not picked up a few times and it's been left there to rot. Council should break the contract because there are better options for this community."

City officials were pleased that Bridge City Sanitation showed up to clarify any concerns that were expressed.

"We hear all the negatives, and I appreciate Jim coming up and saying the positives too," Galloway said. "I don't want you to think that you came here to be bagged on because I think there was some good information learned tonight. I appreciate you coming in and thank you for that."

— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury