Republic Services moves Cassville from Springfield unit to Bella Vista

The city of Cassville has been dealing with ongoing trash pick-up delays, and Republic Services has presented the city council with a plan of action to solve the issue.

Don Collins, area senior manager for Republic Services, addressed the council on Thursday, recognizing the shortfalls and promising a resolution.

“You are important to us, and we failed you,” he said. “Cassville is an important part of our business strategy in Missouri, and we have been circling the wagon with our team in Kansas City to find a solution.”

Steve Walensky, Cassville city administrator, said calls reporting a lack of service from Republic Services have flooded his office.

“It’s been a daily event where they miss stuff, and sometimes for weeks,” he said. “It’s been very time-consuming. I’ve spent a lot of time calming customers down, because when you don’t get your trash picked up for three weeks, it’s not good. In some cases, it had really become a sanitary issue with overflowing cans and dogs and other animals getting into the trash.

“I let Don know their company was on life support with us, not in the ICU, but on life support. This contract comes up at the end of the year.” Collins, who manages an eight-state area with 18 business units and 400 cities and counties as customers, said fortunately for Cassville, there was an “easy button” solution.

“[We are moving Cassville to the] business unit out of Bella Vista, Ark., which is our No. 1 unit as far as service among out 18,” he said. “The Springfield unit has been struggling for several months, and there’s lots I could say about that, but there’s no point with Cassville moving to the Bella Vista unit.”

Collins said that transition has already begun, with most of Cassville’s service coming from Arkansas, and by Aug. 1, a full-time driver and truck will be in place.”

Bill Shiveley, Cassville mayor, said the city began noticing issues with service and customer service about six months ago.

“I don’t understand why that communication dropped so badly,” he said.

“It was a perfect storm,” Collins replied. “When you lose a couple key players on your team, it can be difficult to recover. We are in recovery mode in Springfield.”

Collins said the Bella Vista unit will check in daily with the city until officials feel confident all issues are resolved.

“I’m confident going forward there will be good service for people,” Shiveley said.

“This move is good,” Walensky said. “All the references we checked were positive, and it was wise of Republic Services to cull us out and move us to their A team as they concentrate on other issues they are trying to solve. There could be bumps, and our customers have been great — sharp and very clear — but willing to work with us.”

Walensky said Republic Services has been in violation of its contract, but the city’s options are limited.

“We’ve talked to other cities having issues too, and the Bella Vista unit is closer to us, so I hope they bring their best to bear and clean things up,” Walensky said. “We are a $275,000 a year customer for them. The new route driver has come into city hall and introduced himself to staff, so that was a positive step.”

Walensky said Collins had previously told him a driver shortage was a big part of the issue, and Republic Services is sometimes flying in drivers to take on Springfield unit routes.

Customers have asked for credits or reimbursements for lack of service, Walensky said, but nothing in the current contract stipulates Republic Services must do so.

“When we put it out for bid, the board may take a look at that moving forward and put in penalties for that,” Walensky said.

Collins also noted with the change to the Bella Vista unit, pick-up days will not change, but pick-up times may.

“Bella Vista will come in sooner, so carts need to be on the curb by 6:30 a.m.,” Collins said. “We’ve serviced one street recently at 8:45 a.m. and five carts were still not out. If anything changes, we will share new protocols, policies and procedures.”

Recycling service will also remain the same, running every other Friday.