West Memphis sanitation crews playing catch-up on pick-ups

West Memphis sanitation crews playing catch-up on pick-ups

Recent round of storms result in extra need for limb collections

news@theeveningtimes.com

Just when the claw trucks were about to catch up on removing spring pruning and complete a lap of the city in a week, a Memorial Day weekend storm blew through the city, putting crews behind schedule and leaving debris piled up along city streets.

While the county reported most of the damage north of the county seat, plenty of old and diseased trees didn’t withstand gusts in West Memphis. Media meteorologists said it was the worst windstorm in these parts since the destructive straight-line winds of “Hurricane Elvis” blew through in 2003.

“Just so you know, the trash pick-up is running a little behind,” reported Public Works Administrative Assistant Rhonda Standridge. “We were making progress before the big storm hit and knocked down a bunch of trees.”

The latest wind dropped a perfect storm of Murphy’s Law on the West Memphis Sanitation Department, with a trifecta of obstacles hampering the never-ending clean up effort around the city — spring pruning, the new wind damage and a shorted-handed trash truck crews. One guy down and one new guy in training have resulted in slower service at a key time. Trash crews are working to catchup.

“We worked Saturday overtime,” said Standridge.

“Right now we are a week and a half behind.”

The landfill is not open on Saturday.

“All they could do is load up the truck and park them,” said Standridge. “It helped a little. We are picking up 30 tons a day.”

West Memphis residents accustomed to a weekly circuit for trash pick-up are complaining at the Times office. Clement Road had been visited in two weeks according to complaints.

The trash truck doesn’t have a specific date to pick up at residential addresses, instead it runs a continuos circular route around the city. Right now the debris has them buried.

“Just so everyone knows, right now crews are on South 8th Street and will be moving back west,” said Standridge on Tuesday.

“Then they’ll start north and cut back across the northeast on Thursday.”

“We are picking up everything humanly possible at houses only,” said Leroy Turner. “We have served several houses paperwork (for special half and full loads) that have not yet paid for the special. We will go back around for those when we have caught up and been paid for the special.”

The personnel roster is short while the tree debris is tall.

“We are a driver down,” said Turner. “We had a man quit and now one is in training, others are on vacation. It hurts a little bit, but we will get it done. Training on this particular truck will take another 30 days.”

By John Rech