St. Clair Shores council presses Priority Waste on late pickups, phone hold times and crew conduct

St. Clair Shores council members and residents pressed Priority Waste executives on Tuesday over repeated trash-collection failures, long customer-service hold times and safety and training lapses that left some residents’ yards and curbs strewn with waste.

Council members and residents said missed stops and slow responses have been a near‑daily problem since Priority Waste assumed city contracts in 2024. Vince Hoiampa, general counsel and chief of staff for Priority Waste, acknowledged the company had not met expectations and described steps the company has taken to improve service, including adding trucks, hiring staff and changing operations-management personnel.

Why this matters: Council and residents said the problems are not isolated incidents but a persistent service decline that affects quality of life, increases staff time spent resolving complaints, and could require municipal intervention before the contract’s June 30, 2026, expiration.

Priority Waste’s response and timeline Priority Waste executives told council the company has ordered and taken possession of additional trucks, has restructured parts of its operations team and is expanding its customer-service staffing. Hoiampa said the company has acquired about 40 trucks so far and ordered 100 total; he said additional trucks would be delivered over the next 30–90 days.

Hoiampa said Priority Waste is boosting daily route…