WINSTON COUNTY - The Winston County Commission is completely revamping garbage collection in Winston County, with an end goal of making the process easier for residents and safer for employees.
The Winston County Commission has made an approximate $2.8 million investment, purchasing five garbage trucks equipped with automated side loaders, eliminating the need for riders on the backs of garbage trucks. The driver of the truck will be able to operate the side loader from within the cab on the truck.
The side loader, which is similar to a retractable arm, will be used to pick up the new garbage cans every resident in Winston County who pays for garbage collection through the Winston County Sanitation Office will have delivered to them. Each resident will receive, free of charge, one 96-gallon can. The cans will have wheels on them.
Omnia Partners, the company the county purchased the cans through, will begin delivering the new cans to residents on Monday, April 13. Omnia has been provided a list of current sanitation office customers and their addresses, according to the Winston County Sanitation Office. Residents do not have to be at home when the delivery is made. The process of delivering all the cans is expected to take approximately two weeks.
Winston County Commission Chairman David Cummings noted that the county had reached a crossroads when it comes to sanitation service, with commissioners having to make a change.
“We have older trucks. We have a 2009, a 2013. Our equipment is to the point of no repair. Our trucks would have had to be replaced regardless.
“Did we want to go back with old-school stuff with riders on the back of the truck, which is not safe? Our insurance company highly recommended we get away from that. That’s why we made the decision to get new, modern equipment, one person per truck. We decided to go ahead and spend a little more to make the complete change,” Cummings said.
Another deciding factor in making the investment was the ongoing issue of residents utilizing the garbage service without paying for it. Approximately two years ago, District 1 Commissioner Rutger Hyche and Winston County Sanitation Office Manager Misty Collins spent two-and-a-half weeks driving around the Black Pond community and found an additional 440 customers who were not being billed for garbage service, even though they were having their garbage collected.
“Purchasing these new trucks, this software and the cans will allow us to identify customers who may be getting their garbage picked up, but might not be paying a bill,” Hyche said.
Each new garbage can will be numbered, with that number linked to the customer’s account.
“Every one of them is numbered and they are registered with a certain residence. If the can is stolen and we find the can being used elsewhere, they will be prosecuted,” Cummings said, referring to anyone who is found to be in possession of a can that is not registered to that person.
Directions for new garbage cans
With the new garbage cans being picked up by a side loader and not a sanitation department employee, there are specific instructions on where and how the can needs to be placed so garbage will be successfully collected.
“The can has to be five foot or less from the shoulder of the road, five foot from any obstacles and the wheels have to face away from the road,” Cummings said about the new cans.
Terrell Baccus, sanitation supervisor for the county, added that cans do not have to be placed on perfectly flat ground to be picked up by the new side loaders. However, they cannot be placed in ditches or on highly elevated terrain.
“If we can get it within 6-7 feet of where the truck will be, that will be fine,” Baccus said.
Baccus said that residents need to make sure the garbage cans are not placed within 8 feet of utility poles, mailboxes or other obstacles.
“That arm might catch something when it goes out to pick up the can,” Baccus said.
The entire process of picking up and emptying the can will be very quick.
“From the time the arm comes down to when it goes back up is 10 seconds,” Baccus said. “It will take longer for the truck to stop and take off than get the garbage.”
The trucks will only pick up on the right side of the road, so they will turn around and come back up the other side to pick up trash. Therefore, residents should not be concerned if they see the garbage truck across the street from their home collecting their neighbor’s garbage, but not picking up their garbage.
“There will no longer be any swerving from side to side to pick up garbage,” Baccus said.
Directions for can placement will be left inside the can. However, if anyone doesn’t know where to place their can to make sure it will be picked up, they can call the sanitation office at (205) 489-2909 and an employee will come to their home and assist them.
Hints on ensuring successful collection
For customers who are concerned they will not be able to fit a week’s work of garbage in a 96-gallon can, the county is recommending using 13-gallon kitchen-size garbage bags instead of the 30-gallon bags because they will be more easily compressible within the can. The garbage has to be in the can with the lid shut, not bulging out, commissioners said.
Anything not placed within the can, such as large boxes placed beside the can, will not be collected.
“We will no longer be picking up garbage off the ground or out of bins. It has to be in the can,” Baccus said.
No private cans will be picked up, Baccus added.
“If you need more than one can, call and order one from the office and it will be delivered as soon as possible,” Cummings said.
There will be a charge for additional garbage cans, but that charge had not been determined as of press time.
Cans owned by the county
The county will own the cans and be responsible for maintenance on the cans, Baccus said.
“If anyone has a problem with their can being torn up or not working properly, they need to call,” Baccus said.
The cans are very durable, Baccus noted, built in a way that will make it extremely difficult for pets and/or wild animals to open.
Cans will be repaired or replaced by the county if they are damaged by the county’s garbage trucks or damage occurs due to normal wear and tear. If property owners destroy their cans, the property owner will be responsible for paying for its replacement.
Gravy train ending for non-customers using county
collection service
With the county only collecting garbage placed in county-issued garbage cans, anyone who is not a customer of the Winston County Sanitation Office, but has been placing their garbage cans at the home of an existing customer will no longer have their trash collected.
“This is a big plus to the sanitation department, as far as collections go. The software they have that goes along with this whole package is really going to put Winston County ahead of the curve when it comes to sanitation,” Hyche said.
“If you are not currently signed up for trash collection, you need to call the office and get signed up,” Collins said. Those wanting to sign up for service can call (205) 489-2909.
Multitude of benefits with new system
Commissioners all agree that this investment has been a long time coming and will ultimately provide a multitude of benefits for the county.
“We were looking at doing this at the time we were building the jail (Winston County Judicial Complex),” Winston County District 2 Commissioner Roger Hayes said. “The jail got to be such a problem that we scrapped it.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, the county began looking at the idea again.
“We couldn’t find people to work. We have a problem finding workers and getting them to stay,” Hayes said.
The new trucks can be operated by one driver, which means employees will not have to ride on the back of the trucks or come in direct contact with the garbage.
“In today’s time, there are all kinds of things in the garbage that are not safe. This will eliminate the chances of coming in contact with those things. This will eliminate a person on the back of a truck being endangered by other vehicles approaching them,” Collins said.
“Lots of counties have been doing this for 15 years. We feel like we are behind. We have to do it for economic reasons because we are carrying our garbage farther now and disposal fees are much higher,” Hayes said.
Taking this route allows the county to keep control of its garbage collection process and, in the long run, save residents money.
“What we don’t want to do is allow outside companies to come in and take our sanitation department over. We have 16 employees. This means jobs for our county folks and savings for our residents getting sanitation services,” Hayes said.
With the new trucks making the entire trash collection process faster, there is a real possibility that garbage routes will be able to be merged, creating a four-day workweek for sanitation department employees and allowing them to have more holidays.
Commission asks
for patience
The transition to the new garbage collection system is a work in progress, with additional information and more details expected to be announced at a later date.
Customers should begin using the new cans as soon as they are delivered, even if the older garbage trucks are still being used. For now, customers are asked to continue to put their trash out at the same time and on their current route day.
“There is no way this will be a real smooth transaction. There will be some residents missed. There will be some residents receive cans who are not customers. Our office will be equipped to take phone calls,” Cummings said.
If someone mistakenly receives a can and is not a Winston County Sanitation customer, this doesn’t mean they are allowed to use the can, Cummings said. They will need to call the sanitation office at (205) 489-2909 and report the mistake.
“We know people are probably going to be unhappy with it at first, but we think they will like it. The cans will be bigger and better. I think this is something good. We will have some hiccups, but we will work through it.
“People will have to bear with us and learn a new way of doing things,” Hayes said.
“The quicker we can get all of this done and get everyone on the same track, the quicker the county will see a return on its investment,” Baccus said.
Hyche noted that Collins and Baccus have been very essential to the transition and thanked them for all of their hard work.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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