Lockhart contractors and Republic Services propose shifting residential collections from three days to four to address growth

Republic Services and Lockhart public works staff told the City Council during its work session that residential garbage routes need rebalancing as the city grows.

“Since 2022 we have gone from 5,325 residential customers to 6,151,” Sean Kelly, Lockhart public works director, said, describing a strain on the planned 7 a.m.–6 p.m. route window. "They did that to optimize their service." Alfonso Cifuentes, Republic’s municipal manager, said the company intends to begin outreach March 1 and implement changes March 31 if the plan proceeds as presented.

Company managers said the proposal restores a Friday pickup to return to a four‑day residential schedule and simplifies route boundaries by using highways and large collector streets. Republic representatives said about 1,950 homes would see a day change and that roughly 1,350 of those would be moved to the added Friday route.

“We plan to tag carts for affected residents, mail maps, and use posters and online outreach,” Corey Johnson, Republic operations manager, said. He described a transition-week mitigation plan of providing additional curbside disposal bags (raising a typical 6‑bag allowance to 10 for certain affected addresses) so residents would not experience immediate overflow during the schedule change.

Council members asked how commercial downtown businesses would be affected. Staff and Republic clarified the changes apply to residential cart service only; many restaurants already have multi‑day commercial pickups and Republic is exploring options such as Saturday service for high‑volume commercial customers.

Republic said the company expects to maintain two rear‑load trucks per route with a third truck available as backup and that the city’s continuing growth could require additional equipment in the future. "We'll do whatever it takes to make sure the quality of service is what the city expects," Cifuentes said.

The presentation included neighborhood‑level maps showing Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and the proposed Friday boundaries, and staff emphasized a communications campaign for residents to reduce confusion. Council members were told the item would be scheduled for formal consideration at the regular meeting; no vote was taken during the work session.

Practical next steps described by staff included final route maps, a defined communications timeline beginning March 1, cart tagging for impacted addresses starting the week of March 3, and close monitoring of missed pickups during the transition.