By Dennis Minich
Municipal Waste Services was told Monday night to clean up its act or else.
The Harrisonville Board of Aldermen held a hearing during its regular meeting Monday night where many complaints from citizens were addressed to Bryan Moore, the owner of Municipal Waste.
Among the problems cited by the mayor and the board were untimely service, emptied containers left in the street or blocking driveways, trash left in the street, broken containers, waiting for containers at new homes, noise, recycling and yard waste being mixed in with regular trash and hydraulic fluid left in the road.
After hearing the outline of complaints, Moore responded by saying things were going to get better.
“We are changing the way we are doing things,” he said. “We have started a new program where every truck starts in the city of Harrisonville every morning. And we don’t go anywhere else until the city of Harrisonville is completed.”
Moore said the program started last week and has worked well so far, but the aldermen seemed concerned things might revert back, so a deadline was set. Mayor Judy Bowman and City Administrator Brad Ratliff addressed the issues with Moore in March.
Alderman Gary Davidson said, “It’s taken us six and one-half weeks to get to this point. I think we need an end vote that requires them to improve by a certain date. If things improve, we can roll back the decision made tonight.”
The board decided Aug. 1 would be the termination date. It was agreed the board will discuss the progress June 21 and make a decision whether to keep the date.
Ratliff said it would take at least 30 days to line up a new vendor should Municipal Waste’s contract be cancelled. The contract is up at the end of the year.
Both Moore and members of the board agreed getting the word out would be a key in making the program work. Because trucks have often run late in the day, some customers don’t put their waste out early enough.
“A problem I see is people won’t be ready for us,” Moore said. “We have to do better. Things will get picked up. I want it picked up and I want it picked up in a timely fashion.”
He said the public could help in one key area, the recycling bin. He noted the dumpsite won’t accept certain items.
“Many people don’t use the recycling container correctly. Some people use it as just another trash container. Some put things in plastic bags. Anything in plastic bags is going to get put in the landfill waste. They won’t accept anything in plastic bags.
He said he hopes to get things back where they were when the company was first awarded the contract four years ago.
“Things have not been great and that’s not how I want them to be. I want to get back to how we started. Moving forward, I don’t think you’ll see anything on the street by 3 or 3:30,” Moore said. Davidson concluded, “We are pulling for you. We want to see you succeed.”
