Yard waste falls behind as Manatee cities struggle with COVID-19 staffing

The rapid spread of the omicron variant has left cities in Manatee County struggling to keep up with basic services like garbage, recycling and yard waste pickup.

In Bradenton, Mayor Gene Brown and his wife Gina personally drove house to house for yard waste pickup last week to cover routes for city employees out with Covid-19. So many employees were out sick Tuesday that three public works and utility supervisors also drove routes themselves, Administrator Rob Perry said.

“This staff shortage is a real crisis for our solid waste guys, and the industry in general,” Brown said. “So when we have the chance to help out in an all-hands-on-deck situation, of course, we will. It's the right thing to do.”

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Cases have risen since the holiday season among city staff, leading to worker shortages in IT, police and fire departments, and at its administrative offices in city hall. And it's not just Bradenton, school districts throughout our area also are facing staffing woes because of the spread of omicron, particularly among transportation departments, with buses experiencing delays.

The shortage among public works has been the most noticeable to Bradenton residents.

As of Tuesday, the city's public works division had job 13 openings, three workers home with Covid, and four others out for various other reasons.

Although the city has managed to keep up with regular trash pickup, it is struggling to collect recycling and yard waste as demand rises, partially because of the increase of yardwork as many people started working from home.

“Solid Waste is trying to do the work of 51 people, 20 people short,” spokeswoman Jeannie Roberts said.

Roberts posts updates about the city's progress on Facebook to help inform the community.

“Still tons of yard waste all over our neighborhood, smh,” resident Janell Hargraves wrote in response to a post.

“Thanks for that info, but still no pick up in River Haven,” Darlene Miles commented on another post.

Perry said the city has no choice but to continue operating in a world where Covid-19 is a daily reality.

“We are almost two years into Covid,” Perry said. “It's not going away, and it's a situational challenge that we are going to have to manage. We can't shut down the city and take a pause for a timeout.”

Beach cities feel Covid's pinch

Anna Maria Island cities are feeling the strain as well, even though they provide services to a significantly smaller population.

At Holmes Beach, Covid-19 cases have been rising among city staff since omicron started circling around the community. Mayor Judy Titsworth said she herself just recovered from her second case.

“I just got back from it, and I'm boosted,” she said. “I have just been exposed to so many people I decided I better take a test. I was surprised that I pinged positive because I felt fine.”

She said the beach city has found it difficult to keep up with trash pickup because of the amount and frequency of positive cases, even with new staff members or substitutes filling in.

“It's training all over again,” Titsworth said. “Even if they have someone to cover, the problem is they just don't know the routes. So they are just not doing as good as they would with the original crew.”

Titsworth also expressed concern over the impact of Covid-19 on capital improvement projects, as the virus spreads among contractors and their crews.

Those concerns are becoming reality in the city of Anna Maria, where an $800,000 paving program along Gulf Drive slated to start Tuesday was delayed by at least a week because contractor crews tested positive for Covid-19. The disruption could cause a ripple effect that leads to more delays on future aspects of the project that depended on the completion of the work.

The city also delayed a project to dredge the channel located at the mouth of the city pier for several months because of Covid and was only recently able to begin the effort.

“Covid has become every manager's worst nightmare when it comes to driving projects from concept to completion,” Mayor Dan Murphy said. “Deadlines, resources and expectations have to continually be juggled. If you then throw in the supply chain shortages, it’s the perfect storm.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bradenton Mayor volunteers to pick up yard waste