Sanitation contractor says service stabilized after three-month transition

Todd Prayer, the manager of municipal sales for the contractor that won Wilmore’s sanitation contract, told the City Council the operation took “right at about the 3 month Mark when everything finally smoothed out” after early distribution, container and billing problems.

Prayer told the council the contractor had trouble getting pamphlets to residents on time and initially mismatched container sizes and address lists, problems he said were corrected: “some of them weren't on there at all... but all that came you know we fixed all that and people understood it.” He said drivers learned routes and staff overlaid stops on maps to sequence pickups more efficiently.

Prayer detailed service-recovery steps for missed collections and said most resident calls are “worry calls.” He announced updates to the contractor’s resident app, allowing address-based sign-in and a new “track my truck” feature that displays route progress in 25% increments. “If you haven't been picked up it might say it's 50% done hang on hang on we're coming right so,” he said, describing how the app signals progress.

On sales of surplus fleet vehicles, a staff member reported three auctioned trucks brought roughly $1,700, $2,500 and $4,000 respectively — about $8,000 total — and praised the contractor’s outreach and asset-disposal efforts.

Prayer said recycling participation in Wilmore runs about 23–26 percent and that bulk items have been picked up reliably after the initial weeks. He warned that two consecutive missed service days can be impossible to fully make up because of federal and state driver-hour limits — he cited a practical maximum of about 14 driving hours a day and roughly 60 hours by week’s end — which can constrain same-week recovery in extended outages.

Residents raised service concerns at the meeting, including one resident who reported a missed recycling container at 205 West Main Street; Prayer took the address and said he would ensure pickup. Council members and staff urged residents to use the call center number listed on town materials for general issues and to contact named staff (Donna) for account-specific problems. Prayer said an in-person associate, Emily, is also available at the convenience center for walk-ins.

The council’s discussion closed with members praising staff for responsiveness and improvements. The council did not take any formal action on the contract during the excerpted discussion; it remained informational and focused on operational fixes and resident communication.