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Evanston staff say LRS transition stabilized after early missed pickups; penalties referral drafted
Summary
City staff told the Administration & Public Works Committee that Lakeshore Recycling Systems added trucks, supervisors and workflow changes after November routing and weather problems; staff said missed-pickup reports fell after late November and are handled through 311, and a referral to add contract penalties is being prepared.
Brian Zimmerman, the city’s solid waste coordinator, told the Administration & Public Works Committee on Jan. 26 that the switch to Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) in November produced an expected transition period of routing and familiarity problems, compounded by November’s peak yard-waste season and winter weather.
“We did notice … a convergence of challenges,” Zimmerman said, listing four main issues: building familiarity with Evanston’s narrow and varied alleys and set-outs; peak yard-waste volumes in November; initial routing that needed tweaking; and winter storms that delayed collections. Zimmerman said LRS responded by adding trucks and supervisors, changing routing and workflow, and increasing direct contact with residents. He reported a high initial volume of missed-pickup requests that declined after the second week and stabilized at historically normal levels by late November and December.
Chair Claire Kelly and other council members pressed staff on whether residents would receive credits for missed pickups and whether alley collection would resume where residents previously received alley service. Zimmerman said the city’s residential collection is a flat-rate service and there are no automatic credits for missed service; LRS makes extra collection runs to pick up missed pickups and staff perform visual inspections to verify service completion. He said LRS can receive 311 reports routed directly to their dispatch and will often respond the next day.
Kelly said some residents report paying increased fees while receiving different pick-up locations (for example, wheeling carts to Sherman Avenue instead of alley collection). Zimmerman said the city still collects from alleys for roughly 80–90% of locations, but some alleys are too narrow or have constraints such as trees or power lines that make collection unsafe. He added that the city is preparing a referral that would add contract penalties for repeated misses; staff described that approach as part of a mix of incentives and enforcement.
The committee did not take formal action on the LRS contract at this meeting. Staff asked residents to report missed pickups to 311 so the hauler can respond quickly.
