ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. – Council members in St. Clair Shores have approved a new waste collection agreement with Express Waste Services following ongoing frustrations over unreliable service by the city’s current provider, Priority Waste.
The new agreement with Express Waste Services will begin on July 1, immediately following the expiration of the city’s contract with Priority Waste on June 30.
“The City heard the concerns expressed by residents regarding waste collection services and took those concerns seriously,” said Mayor Kip Walby in a news release on Tuesday. “The review process was designed to ensure that St. Clair Shores receives dependable service at a competitive cost while maintaining the level of service our community expects.”
Residents in communities across Metro Detroit say they have repeatedly expressed concerns over delayed or missed trash pickups by PW.
At the city council meeting on Monday, St. Clair Shores City Manager Dustin Lent told members the company has repeatedly promised improvements, but failed to deliver.
“This is our largest service contract, and it literally has been a nightmare for the last two years,” Council Member Chris Vitale said during the meeting.
Complaints have also surfaced in Dearborn Heights, where residents say trash and yard waste pickup has been inconsistent and running late, sometimes after dark.
“They’ve been running really late. I’ve seen them out after dark. Way late. We’re running a day behind on our yard waste,” said Ann Marie Jones, a Dearborn Heights resident.
Another resident, Richard Garza, said his trash and yard waste were scheduled for Thursday pickup, but as of Tuesday, it was still sitting curbside.
“And I had that out at 6 o’clock. And here it is Tuesday, it still hasn’t been picked up,” Garza said.
In response, the City of Dearborn Heights posted on its Facebook page that Mayor Mo Baydoun is putting Priority Waste “on notice.”
The city said Baydoun sent a formal letter demanding a $13,000 deduction from the company’s May invoice for every missed or delayed collection.
Responding to Local 4’s questions about ongoing complaints, Priority Waste issued a statement saying the company takes “full responsibility” anytime it fails to deliver the level of service expected by residents.
“Addressing these issues is management’s top priority,” the statement read. “Like many companies in capital-intensive industries, Priority Waste faced financial and operational headwinds that impacted its ability to consistently deliver the level of service our customers expect. The company is now under new ownership and new leadership, with the resources and focus to address these challenges head-on.”
The company also said it is “actively investing in fleet upgrades, route reliability, and faster response times to improve day-to-day service and deliver solutions to impacted service areas.”
City officials in St. Clair Shores say the decision to move away from PM follows a comprehensive review process by an ad hoc committee — consisting of Mayor Pro Tem Ron Frederick and Council Members Candice Rusie and Chris Vitale — to identify a provider capable of delivering consistent, reliable and cost-effective service to the city’s more than 28,000 households and businesses.
Residents can expect uninterrupted waste collection service during the transition to the new provider.