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Sunbury hears Local Waste overview ahead of council contract vote
Summary
Local Waste representatives reviewed fleet size, on-board camera and routing technology, and customer service practices during the City of Sunbury Services Committee meeting; staff and the company recommended keeping the current trash-only service with optional recycling and noted the council has a second reading of the contract on its agenda.
Kaylee Bollinger, a representative of Local Waste, reviewed the company’s operations and customer-service technology at the March 5 meeting of the City of Sunbury Services Committee, ahead of a second reading on the company’s contract at the full council meeting.
Bollinger said Local Waste employs about 150 people, operates roughly 105 trucks and services about 50–55 routes per day. She described a new seven-day shop at the company’s facility that allows trucks to be repaired in-house overnight rather than sent out for longer repairs.
The presentation emphasized vehicle cameras and routing tablets. “All of our trucks have roughly 5 to 7 cameras,” Bollinger said, noting the footage and stop data are available to customer service and can be pulled to resolve complaints about missed pickups or damaged property. She added that drivers can attach photos and notes to a customer account at a stop and that Local Waste’s office reviews those reports daily.
Bollinger said the company is now about 70% compressed natural gas (CNG) and has an on-site CNG fueling station. She also described a trainee program for drivers preparing to get a commercial driver’s license.
City staff and Local Waste both recommended keeping the current trash-only contract with an optional recycling add-on rather than changing to a compulsory recycling model. “That gives residents the opportunity that must participate in recycling to recycle while also keeping the rate as low as possible for the people that don’t want to recycle,” Bollinger said.
The committee’s discussion included questions about where collected materials are taken; Bollinger confirmed materials collected in Sunbury are disposed of or processed at the firm’s transfer/processing locations serving the operating counties. The committee did not take action on the contract at the services meeting; the staff noted the contract’s second reading is on the full council’s agenda later in March.
The presentation included a reminder that James Weaver, Local Waste’s chief financial officer, is the company’s principal contact on the account and that Amber (city staff) handles municipal-level customer issues.
No formal committee vote was taken on the contract during the services meeting.
