The Cobb Board of Commissioners and the leadership of the county’s solid waste department have scheduled a “summit” next week with private trash disposal companies.
Cobb government said in a release on Friday that the meeting will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 2 p.m. at the Cobb Civic Center (548 S. Marietta Parkway).
The county release said trash company leaders are being summoned “to address a history of complaints by residents in Cobb County of missed pickups, poor customer service, and lack of recycling services.”
The meeting comes several days after commissioners heard a proposed code amendment change that would limit trash pickup services to one private hauler for each of the four commission districts.
But at Tuesday’s commission meeting, Jonathan Jenkins, Director of the Cobb Sustainability, Waste, and Beautification Department, said he had not met with trash companies since 2019, and did not seek their input before proposing the code amendment changes.
“About 20 haulers in Cobb County could be put out of business,” said John Swierenga, an East Cobb resident and owner of Trash Taxi, during a public comment period.
“Large capital [would be] needed to bid on these contracts,” he said. “We face restrictions because there’s no disposal capability we have.”
Swierenga and his brothers started Trash Taxi in 2004, and the company serves around 16,000 customers, mostly in northwest Cobb. Trash Taxi recently expanded into some areas of East Cobb.
He estimated that between 90,000 to 100,000 Cobb citizens get their trash service from small haulers, and that big companies are struggling.
One them, Swierenga said, called him to ask if he could send Trash Taxi trucks to Gwinnett County to help pick up their garbage.
Jenkins said he got the idea for dedicated haulers for a particular area of the county from Gwinnett, which recently implemented that ordinance.
“This proposal, if enacted,” Swierenga said of the Cobb proposal, “could be a colossal failure.”
Citizen complaints have focused strongly on American Disposal, one of the bigger haulers that has bought up smaller competitors to consolidate its market position.
Cobb citizens opposed to the county designating trash service also addressed commissioners Tuesday, including Hill Wright of East Cobb.
“Just stop,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Earlier Tuesday, at a work session on code amendments, Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb wanted the trash proposal to be tabled until January.
She and fellow Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill said they do not support eliminating competition in trash service, and other commissioners expressed concern about the proposal.
But Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said there would be enough time to modify the proposal before a scheduled vote Sept. 27.
Wednesday’s meeting is being billed as a work session. It is open to the public, but there will be no public comment period.
The meeting can be seen on Cobb TV and citizens can e-mail trashcomplaints@cobbcounty.org with comments and feedback.
Related:
- Birrell asks for Cobb to delay proposed trash service changes
- Proposed changes to Cobb trash service draw citizen opposition
- $1 billion in 2022 Cobb property tax bills issued; due Oct. 15
- Cobb settles lawsuit with Uber driver; agrees to pay $250K
- Cobb DOT to start Bill Murdock-Pine Road realignment
- East Piedmont Road resurfacing project continues
- East Cobb resurfacing projects OK’d with 2022 SPLOST funds
- Cobb commissioners adopt $1.2 billion fiscal year budget
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