Jan. 17—FAIRMONT — The recent snowstorms highlighted continuing problems the City of Fairmont has with Republic Services, its contracted trash collector.
“I don’t fully say that snow related delays are unreasonable,” City Manager Travis Blosser said. “But, when I have people sitting with almost three weeks of not having their trash serviced, that is unacceptable.”
Dissatisfaction with Republic’s performance has Blosser considering alternatives for city trash collection. The main option he favors is bringing the task back under the umbrella of the city’s services. However, he hasn’t ruled out making an arrangement with a new service provider either.
Blosser said the City has received multiple phone calls from residents whose trash has not been picked up on their streets, which the City later verified. Greenwood Drive, the Peacock Lane and Watson neighborhood, Big Tree Drive, Mary Lou Retton Drive and major portions of District 8 have been left neglected, Blosser said. Councilmember Bruce McDaniel said he’s heard from two constituents who have complained about their trash pickup.
Blosser’s frustration is lack of consistency from Republic.
The City started posting updates on trash collection through its Facebook page. Those updates would come from the City reaching out to Republic and asking for specific details on how trash collection was progressing throughout the day. However, while at first the updates were accurate, over time the updates became less accurate to the point the City stopped offering updates through Facebook because the information Republic provided simply wasn’t accurate. It’s a pattern that hasn’t been limited to the past three weeks either. Blosser said Republic’s consistency is on a carousel of quality.
“I think where residents have an issue is that these delays and issues don’t just happen during winter time,” he said. “There are consistent issues around trash service being provided that we consistently deal with on a regular basis. Even during the summer, when the weather’s great.”
Republic Services requested a list of questions before providing an answer to the Times West Virginian. We asked about the cause of the inconsistent service, including whether the company faced a labor shortage. Blosser had pointed out that the company doesn’t just provide collection for Fairmont, but that they have contracts with other cities as well. The company replied with a brief statement before mentioning there wouldn’t be additional comment.
“We value our partnership with the City of Fairmont and are committed to providing the highest level of service to customers across the city,” Melissa Quillard, senior manager of external communications at Republic, said. “Recent weather in the region has caused service delays in many areas due to dangerous, icy road conditions and other potential hazards. Nothing is more important than the safety of our drivers and the communities we serve, which is why we are monitoring the roads closely and coordinating with our public works and snow removal partners daily to determine what areas can be safely serviced. We appreciate the community’s patience and are working to resume service in all affected areas as soon as we are safely able to do so.”
McDaniel has a long history working with the City, and was there when the City privatized the service. At the time, he said, privatizing garbage collection was a good choice, especially since the company responsible for collection was a local provider. Overtime, however, corporate consolidation took hold and smaller companies got gobbled up by larger companies. Service suffered in the mergers.
“Their priority isn’t necessarily picking up the trash, it’s making money,” McDaniel said. “Travis is, I think at least looking at it from a perspective of, ‘we don’t have to make money.’ We don’t want to raise the cost to our citizens but we can provide a better service. And he may be right.”
It’s a viewpoint Blosser agrees with. He said company shareholders are motivated by profit, whereas government is motivated by the need to provide a service — one that need not make a profit.
Creating a relationship with a different private company isn’t out of the question either, but it’s one that has its own layers of complication. The West Virginia Public Service Commission regulates the zones in which trash companies operate. Blosser said he wants to look at every option available so he can provide the best service to residents with their tax dollars.
There are two years left on Republic’s contract with the City. Until it’s time to renegotiate the contract or part ways, Blosser said the City is doing what it can in the short term to improve service delivery.
Blosser said he doesn’t want to become the guy who beats up on Republic Services. At the end of the day, it’s still the City’s responsibility. But that doesn’t mean he wants to stay on the carousel with Republic.
“When a resident catches me on the street and says, ‘this is unacceptable Travis,’ they’re 100% correct,” Blosser said. “It’s unacceptable. It’s our fault and it’s my responsibility to make sure that that gets changed.”
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com