Issues with Jemison garbage collection being resolved

Published 4:31 pm Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The folks picking up Jemison’s garbage now have the route down pat.

The city council voted on Dec. 6, 2010, to enter into a contract with Waste Pro, who began collecting the city’s garbage at the beginning of the year.

As Waste Pro’s employees learned the city, residents were asked to leave their garbage bins by the road for longer than their appointed pick-up day.

However, the last couple of weeks, Waste Pro has been able to collect garbage across the city on a single day, Tuesday.

“The transition has been as easy as it could be,” said Shannon Welch, assistant to Mayor Eddie Reed.

Welch said he’s especially appreciative of the company working with the city on situations such as elderly residents not being able to get their bin to the road.

“Anytime you have a big change like that, there are going to be some issues,” Welch said.

Still, Welch said there have been issues with residents leaving their bins in the road instead of beside the road.

All Jemison residents should have a new 75-gallon garbage bin; the provision of the bins was part of the city’s contract with Waste Pro.

Perhaps the most significant benefit for the city to contract its garbage collection is the move allowed three city workers to concentrate on projects to improve the city instead of collecting garbage.

“It’s been a great change for us,” Welch said.