As residents across Metro Detroit report missed trash, recycling and compost pickups, municipal leaders are weighing action against Priority Waste and demanding improvements from the waste hauler.
In some communities, such as St. Clair Shores, officials are doing everything from switching haulers to reviewing penalties, withholding payments and exploring other contract enforcement options as complaints continue to come in.
Meanwhile, Priority Waste announced June 1 that new CEO Aaron Johnson was specially recruited for the role and will lead efforts to improve operations and reliability.
“First and foremost, we want our customers and communities to know that we hear them, we understand their frustration, and we take full responsibility anytime we fail to deliver the level of service they expect,” the company said in a statement. “Addressing these issues is management’s top priority.
Why officials are perturbed
In Dearborn Heights, Mayor Mo Baydoun said residents have been patient long enough.
“Our phone has not stopped ringing for a little over three weeks now,” Baydoun said, noting residents across the city have complained about missed pickups and delayed routes, including his 77-year-old father, whose compost sat at the curb for two weeks awaiting collection.
Baydoun said the city has demanded a $13,000 reduction in Priority Waste’s May invoice under contract provisions covering missed and delayed collections and is withholding payment while officials review additional enforcement options.
“This has been an ongoing issue,” Baydoun said. “We’re letting them know that we’re holding them accountable because they’ve breached their contract. We are exploring every avenue with our legal department.”
According to the city, only 40% of bulk pickups scheduled for May 29 had been completed as of last week, while bulk pickups scheduled for May 30 and most compost collections remained unfinished.
The issues came nearly two years after Priority Waste expanded its southeast Michigan footprint through the acquisition of GFL Environmental’s municipal collection operations.
The transition affected approximately 75 communities and contributed to service disruptions in some areas, which the company attributed in part to broken-down trucks inherited from GFL and uncollected recycling and yard waste left behind before the transition.
“I think they’ve outgrown the company,” Baydoun said.
In Westland, Mayor Kevin Coleman agreed with the sentiment.
“It sounds like they’ve taken on more than they can handle at this point,” Coleman said, noting his city is also looking at options after residents experienced delays of up to one week.
Coleman said the city is reviewing route maps and contract provisions that could allow Westland to assess fees for missed or delayed pickups.
“We’re going to go through those and charge,” he said. “They have to be accountable to their clients, which are these cities. And I’m responsible for holding them accountable.”
Last week, Priority Waste crews worked through Sunday in an effort to catch up on missed routes, Coleman said.
“Residents, they’re not going to stay patient forever, and neither will I,” he said.
What’s next
There have been complaints about Priority Waste for the last two years in some Macomb County communities.
St. Clair Shores City Council unanimously voted Monday, June 1, to switch to Express Waste in Warren beginning July 1, Mayor Kip Walby said. He said there had been a lack of service and delays in trash pickup, recycling and yard waste removal in the city.
“It’s very spotty service. Over the weekend, it was horrendous,” he said, adding: “There’s not much more that angers a resident or frustrates a resident than their trash not being picked up.”
Walby said residents don’t want trash and yard waste sitting around, as it may smell and attract rodents. Refuse pickup, he said, is a “core service in this community. So, when your day is Thursday, you want your trash picked up on Thursday.”
Walby said the city formed a waste committee with the city manager and some city council members to look at options for almost the last year. That included the city possibly collecting its own trash, which it has not done in more than three decades, but determined it would not be cost-effective.
Walby said the new contract will be an 18-month deal, as the city is getting away from renewing near peak pickup season.
Clinton Township Supervisor Paul Gieleghem said problems with Priority Waste have been “huge” for residents.
“You don’t pick up trash; people get very upset. And they’re right to be upset. And we’re doing everything that we can to hold the company accountable, and also look at what our options are.”
Unlike other townships, he said, Clinton Township residents pay for refuse services on their water bill, and the township pays the company, giving the township greater leverage. He said the township built into its contract a $50 fine for every missed pickup not handled within 24 hours of the township notifying the company.
Gieleghem said Priority Waste, under their old regime, refused to acknowledge there were problems. But the company has new leadership.
He said the township has a five-year contract with Priority Waste, beginning April 1, for 22,000 single-family residential households. During a meeting last week, Gieleghem said the company’s new chief executive officer didn’t make promises that he couldn’t keep, said he would get back to officials on issues and seemed to have industry experience.
“We are skeptical but continue to monitor it and hold the company accountable for missed pickups,” he said, adding: “We are working to hold them accountable and make sure that service delivery improves and that people get the services that they are paying for.”
Gieleghem said there were several service problems in April, most of which were weather related, when compost came back online for pickup in addition to trash and recycling. There were organizational problems in May, he said, such as the company not having enough trucks and the trucks that they did have were breaking down.
He said last week, officials were told more money is being put into buying more trucks that are to be operational within two weeks. Township officials are looking for service to normalize by next week, he said, though there are still other problems, such as about 350 residents awaiting replacement carts.
Priority vows service improvements
On June 1, the company announced Aaron Johnson as its new chief executive officer and said owner TPG has invested approximately $190 million to stabilize the business, modernize its fleet and improve route reliability and customer service.
In a statement, Priority acknowledged recent service issues and attributed them to financial and operational challenges.
The company said it has hired 28 new drivers, ordered 91 new collection trucks, and is working to reduce service backlogs as it seeks to improve performance across its service area.
The company said the focus is straightforward: ensure trucks are operational, routes are staffed, customers are taken care of, and service reliability improves each week.
“We expect customers and communities to begin seeing meaningful service improvements in the near term,” the statement said. “We know trust is earned through actions, not words. Priority Waste’s customers and communities deserve reliable, consistent service, and delivering that is our first priority. We have the right leadership in place, the capital to invest in this business, and a clear plan to improve. Our focus is straightforward: show up on time, be there for our customers, and be the reliable service provider these communities deserve.”
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Suburbs irate at Priority Waste over late pickups, shoddy service
Reporting by Laura Colvin and Christina Hall, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
