Waste Management officials took issue with figures contained in a study recently presented to the Unified Government about trash service in Wyandotte County.
The UG has withheld more than $450,000 in payments to Waste Management in 2019, based on what the UG said it was allowed to deduct under the contract for missed trash collections and late service.
Waste Management responded with a statement in February that it intended to terminate the current contract because of the default of the UG in paying for trash and recycling service. It gave a date of March 22 for contract termination. Last month, Waste Management stated it would continue to work with the local community through a transition to another collection company if providers are changed.
Asked about the current situation and if anything was new, a UG spokesman responded today that, “The Unified Government will continue to work with Waste Management to seek a mutually beneficial outcome that serves the interests of residential customers who have not received the high-quality level of service they pay for and deserve.”
Waste Management sent out a news release on Tuesday, mostly concerning the figures in the study presented to the UG:
“In a letter delivered to the Unified Government on Feb. 21, Deffenbaugh Industries, Inc. d/b/a Waste Management provided notice of intent to terminate the current contract, due to default of obligations by the Unified Government (UG) of certain terms and conditions.
“After withholding more than $450,000 in payments to Waste Management In 2019, the UG has neglected to cure their defaults,” said Paul Howe, spokesperson for Waste Management of Kansas Inc.
“The UG hired a third-party consultant, Burns and McDonnell to make recommendations for the residential solid waste collection program. Waste Management met with the UG staff over 50 times during 2019 at either the UG’s request or Waste Management’s, to discuss improvements to the residential service program.
“Our company has met multiple times with the UG staff and only once in April with Burns & McDonnell on their report, that was supposed to address the issues we raised with the UG staff,” commented Howe.
“After 10-months, the consultant delivered a report to the UG committee that contained misleading information and inaccurate data,” said Howe. Waste Management company highlighted several examples:
• “The report stated that WM was “no longer self reporting misses and completion time to UG as of mid-August 2019.” (pg. six ). The consultant failed to disclose that the UG staff and Waste Management reached a joint agreement that the UG’s 3-1-1 system would be THE system for residents to report missed pick-ups. Waste Management has abided by that joint agreement to utilize this reporting system, providing direct access to the UG of customer concerns.
• “Page seven of the report included information from Waste Management’s website “a 99.99% pickup accuracy.” This service claim applies to an entirely different line of business that Waste Management provides to customers and is not applicable to a take all, un-containerized municipal solid waste and recycling collection program. Inclusion of this information in the report is just one example of the consultant’s report providing inaccurate information to the UG and not seeking input or clarification from Waste Management.
• “Another example of misinformation is the consultant stating, “Deffenbaugh historically ran 16-18 refuse routes.” That statement is factually inaccurate, and no supporting data was requested from Waste Management on the number of routes, either currently or historically. Currently, Waste Management runs 17 – 20 daily refuse routes exceeding the consultants’ “recommendation.” The daily route fluctuation is a direct reflection of the effect of the antiquated collection system in Wyandotte County.
“After multiple meetings in 2019 with the UG where we discussed suggestions for improvement and sought payment for the outstanding balances, followed by the release of the recent inaccurate consultant’s report, Waste Management was left with no choice but to issue the notice of default.”
An earlier story may be viewed at https://wyandotteonline.com/long-simmering-issues-with-trash-service-in-kck-coming-to-a-head/.