KCK residents asked to call 311 about any problems with trash service

Unified Government officials are asking residents to call the UG’s 311 information number if they have complaints about their trash service.

At the Monday night Public Works and Safety Committee meeting, Melissa Sieben, assistant UG administrator, said the UG has been having weekly meetings with Waste Management since the spring.

She said the discussion about a pilot program for trash pickup last spring brought some other issues of service to the UG’s staff’s attention. During that discussion, several residents spoke up about late or missed trash pickups.

Kirk Suther of the UG’s staff said that the UG and Waste Management have been in frequent communications, checking on the number of trucks running, how many finished their routes that day, and whether any areas were missed.

Residential customers in the last few years generally have seen a change in a reduction of the number of people on the back of the trash trucks, and also a change in how they do their routes, sometimes driving down the same street two or three times, once for one side and another trip for the other side of the street, and again for recycled materials. Sometimes, trash is not picked up at the end of the route on trash collection day, but then it is picked up the next morning.

Residents contacted their UG commissioners about it, and also wrote messages to news publications that their trash was not being picked up on their trash collection day. The UG now would like the residents to call 311 with any complaints.

Paul Howe, community relations spokesman for Waste Management, said one of the challenges when the company made the transition from Deffenbaugh to Waste Management was hiring and retention of employees. There was a national shortage of truck drivers, going back to 2010, he said.

He said after they purchased the company in 2015, Waste Management did several wage increases after some years without any raises. The company now offers a competitive wage, he said. He added that the cost of insurance also has risen.

Howe said Waste Management emphasized safety, and the drivers’ hours of service were reduced to protect them and the community.

He said Waste Management is an industry leader in safety, and developed rules to prevent accidents. Howe said a group of employees would not adapt to Waste Management’s safety policies and operating procedures, and left.

Nationally, the industry has moved away from a manual collection process, toward a more automated process, he said. That was done because of efficiency, because it was more difficult to attract people to work as trash collectors, and there was a workers’ compensation issue, he said. Currently, there is about 50 to 60 percent automation in the Kansas City area market, he said.

People who are hired to do manual labor, hauling trash on the back of a truck, often change to an automated or commercial system, he said. A career path has been created for trash haulers to become commercial drivers, he said.

“We have the challenges; we’re owning them; we’re working with them and the county officials to make sure we get back on track,” Howe said.

Suther said it was decided that all complaints should go through the 311 system. Then, the complaints were supposed to be sent to Waste Management. Trying to be more timely, the UG is giving access to the 311 system to Waste Management to work on the complaints sooner, according to Suther.

Suther said the percentage of people who call 311 is very low; he added there are some people who are missing service who don’t call.

SIeben said Waste Management is telling the UG what they’ve missed, UG staff is checking neighborhoods, and seeing that the percentage of people complaining to them isn’t representative of what’s happening on the streets.

Suther showed an analysis of current trash pickup times that showed the UG time per contract at 10 hours a day, but the actual time per route at 13 hours a day. Excessive heat, extra heavy trash, trucks that break down means houses are missed and trash is not picked up until the next day, he said. On Mondays, for example, trucks have 805 houses per route with 15 routes total that day.

Sieben said Waste Management has to follow Department of Transportation regulations that limit the number of hours for drivers.

“We just don’t have enough trucks on the street,” Suther said. Recycling is an additional 1,800 to 3,400 homes for pickup each day for each truck, he said.

Suther said the UG will continue to meet with Waste Management on each Wednesday to work on how service can be improved. There will be suggestions from Waste Management. Then the UG will develop recommendations on improving service, possibly returning to the UG Commission in August to discuss the recommendations, he said.

The UG has a contract with Waste Management for residential trash pickup in Kansas City, Kansas. Residents pay their trash bills through a charge on their Board of Public Utilities’ bills.

Commissioner Jane Philbrook said she gets plenty of calls about non-pickup, and she tells people to call 311, although she will also talk to them.

“I would really like to see people responded back to, when people have problems, they want you to acknowledge there’s a problem and you’ve heard them,” she said. “So often, there’s a lot of people who have repeatedly had this issue, and if you don’t call them back and let them know, yes, we heard you and we’re trying to work on it, they’re going to still be mad even if you show up and pick it up, just because they don’t feel heard.”

Commissioner Mike Kane said he had complained about trash not being picked up, and it continued to happen. The trash wasn’t picked up on the day it was scheduled, and then trash was picked up the next morning at 6:45 a.m., he said.

“My neighbors were calling,” he said. “I just want you to do what you get paid for. You’re not doing it, and if I performed my job function like that, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t work there. I’m just asking you to do your job, we pay you to do it, we want you to do it.”

Commissioner Melissa Bynum, who presided at the meeting, said she would like staff and commissioners to tell people that they must turn in their complaints about trash to the 311 information number. She wanted more communications with constituents, asking them to call 311.

“Ultimately, we all really want the problem to be resolved,” she said.

Commissioner Angela Markley said she gets emails and calls daily from residents about trash pickup, and tells people to call 311, but after they’ve called 311 some weeks in a row, they’re just not going to call. Changes have to be made quickly enough or residents will stop calling and the UG will not have the data it needs, she said.

“Don’t be afraid to call, not just one person in the neighborhood, but all of you call, because then we have accurate data we need to drive this so we get it taken care of,” Commissioner Philbrook said.