By Gerri Miller
Elmore/Autauga News
A special called meeting of the Autauga County Commission scheduled for tonight has been cancelled. The meeting had been called so the low bid could be presented for the County’s waste disposal services.
The deadline for the submission of bids was yesterday, said Scott Kramer, the Commission’s treasurer and administrator. “The bid outlined a start date at the end of December,” he said. “We only received one bid.”
Kramer said that the bid is now contingent on beginning February 1st. “Since we are not in a rush to get that processed so quickly, the Commission will be checking references and reviewing this bid further before making a decision. I would anticipate them making a decision next month.”
During a regular meeting last month, the Commission voted to approve opening up the bidding process. Kramer said at the time that there were five companies who said they were bidding to win the County’s business, but Waste Management/Advance Disposal was not one of them. Waste Management bought out Advance Disposal in November 2020.
Kramer talked with two of the companies and they felt they did not have the resources necessary to do the job. The other two companies did not submit a bid.
The move came after months of citizen complaints about missed routes, trash on the streets, and long waits to get help on Waste Management’s telephone hotline.
Residents have said the issues go beyond collection delays. They also include missing trash cans and failure to replace trash cans that are damaged. The problems have been widespread in both Elmore and Autauga counties. The Elmore County Commission has been in contact with Waste Management over the same issues, and are working on a plan as well if the situation does not improve.
The winning bidder in Autauga County will provide waste disposal services for those Autauga County residents living outside the city limits of Prattville. Initially new service was to begin on December 20, but that has been delayed.
In April 2020, Waste Management representatives went before the ACC and laid out their plan to help correct the issues plaguing the company. They explained that the company hoped to alleviate the county’s problems by hiring new drivers, implementing of new driver technology and relocating their call center.
Residents and officials have said things have only gotten worse. Two Waste Management officials paid a visit to the ACC in September and were peppered with angry questions from the Commission. It is the same for Elmore County, as commissioners have been very vocal about their dissatisfaction with the service offered since the buy out.
“There’s more decline than there is improvement,” said Autauga County District 2 Commissioner John Thrailkill at the September meeting. “It’s not gotten better. There might be a stretch where trash is picked up consistently, but then it falls back off. There are people in this county who are irate. The trash pickups are not just a day or two late, most of the time it’s weeks late. Is there worse service in the state than Autauga County? I mean, that’s a question for y’all.” [speaking to Waste Management officials].
