Hoover urges Amwaste to address ‘sporadic and unexplained failures’ in trash service

Hoover, Alabama (WBMA) Delays and missed trash pickups are being reported across Jefferson County.

Some people are not satisfied with the service provided by Amwaste.

See related content: Missed, delayed trash pickups remain a problem in Jefferson County

On Friday, communities in Hoover reported that their trash wasn’t being picked up on Thursday’s scheduled date. Chace Lake was one of those communities that was missed, but people said it was finally picked up Friday morning.

“Certainly, I think all of us in the neighborhood would like to see them deliver on their promise that they would pick up on Mondays and Thursdays and be reliable at those times. People count on it. These streets have a lot of trash cans and a lot of housing density. , so when they don’t pick them up, you have a lot of unsightly trash cans,” Jane Clayton said. “I think everyone would agree we want it to be more reliable.”

Clayton is hopeful that the problem will be solved.

“I understand the issues and I’m sure it’s not an easy problem to solve, but if you’re in business, you do what you say you’re going to do, and you should follow through, so I hope they can find a way to find a way around it,” she said.

Katrina Blackwell, who works at Hoover, said it’s an ongoing problem.

“It’s very inconsistent. Our trash service is supposed to be done once a week, twice a week, and it’s just hit or miss. They might show up on the first day of the week, but then show up in the second half of the week, They never show up and then residents call to complain and it’s very unsanitary,” Blackwell said. “We just want consistency and reassurance, knowing that trash will be picked up every week as expected.”

Amwaste said it is providing route guidance to drivers and expects immediate improvements. Some people aren’t worried.

“It’s going to be picked up, they’re normal, of course they’re confused for a day or two now and then, but it doesn’t cause us any difficulty,” Al Coltrane said.

The City of Hoover said “Amwaste continues to work with the company every day to provide services to residents.”

The transition to the new route since March 25 has been uneven, and it’s disappointing that Hoover residents have to endure sporadic and unexplained lack of garbage service. This resulted in more than 1,523 missed pickups reported between March 25 and April 18, which is more than the holiday issues for the entire months of December 2023 and January 2024 combined. City Administrator Ken Grimes said in a statement to ABC 33/40: “We believe the actual number of missed pickups is higher because many people reported that they missed more than just their homes , also noticed that entire streets or neighborhoods of theirs were being missed, leaving more residents unserved.

The statement continued: “The City fully expects Amwaste to meet its obligations and urges the company every day to correct missed routes, missed pickups and overall service levels. All City leadership and teams are frustrated. They want to provide the best possible service for residents.” Good service and residents just want their trash collected in a timely manner.

We hold ourselves accountable and expect this level of service from Amwaste. We apologize to any residents who were affected by this level of service from our contractor. “We’re trying to improve it every day,” Grimes added.

It is critical that the city is able to track and record missed pickups. To do this, residents are asked to report missed services through the MyHooverConnect app, available at www.HooverAlabama.gov. Once on the page, residents can click the red MyHooverConnect button and select the request category, then Missed Pickup, and enter their details. This is the City’s official way of assisting Amwaste with missed services.

If a collection is missed, the city asks residents to leave their bins at the curb or at a normal collection location so staff can reach them.

The contract with the Cahaba Solid Waste Authority is for ten years, ending on Sept. 30, 2031, and the contract with the City of Hoover is for two and a half years.

Earlier this week, Amwaste posted on social media about how to best contact your city with service requests or questions.

In addition to Hoover; Pelham, Fultondale, Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills and Trussville are affiliated with the Cahaba Solid Waste Authority.

View related content: Cahaba Solid Waste Authority discusses customer complaints and concerns with Amwaste

Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat said the city is satisfied with their service and has no intention of changing it.

A spokesperson for Vestavia Hills said their city is also satisfied, noting that other vendors in the city’s past were not as attentive when issues arose. Vestavia Hills said the proportion of complaints reported there is small, but he reiterated that there are growing pains when change occurs, adding that when something goes wrong, it’s about recovery and when it comes to focusing on fixing the problem, This is called “superior” to any complaint.

A spokesman for the city of Pelham said there have been no major issues with Amwaste, noting that 100 people have missed scheduled pickup service via Pelham 311 since the new route changes took effect. Amwaste serves approximately 92,000 customers in the city twice a week.