Dec 14, 2019 5 min read

Canonsburg’s council members discussed issues they’ve been having with County Hauling Corp. since the borough’s contract for trash pickup began in January.

Multiple residents have called the borough office to complain about their garbage not getting picked up.

“People were calling us all the time,” council President RT Bell said Monday during a meeting. “We’re going to give them some time, but we want to see some change.”

The borough began its five-year contract with County Hauling in January, according to borough manager Denise Lesnock. The total cost of the five years is $3,066,786 for solid waste and recycling pickup, Lesnock said.

“We have gotten complaints, but what people forget is that we got multiple complaints about Waste Management too,” she said.

Lesnock said the borough met with County Hauling officials Nov. 25 to “resolve the issues.”

“We’re trying to work with them,” she said. “They’re trying to make corrections.”

Bell said the borough wants to give the company time to improve its service.

“We’ll give them a little longer and see what happens,” he said.

County Hauling spokesperson Ro Rozier issued a news release Friday in response to the issues brought up in Canonsburg. She said the release would “serve as our statement for today.”

In the release, the Belle Vernon company announced a $150,000 investment into “smart garbage trucks.” The company will mount tablets in the trucks which will map the pickup routes and video every pick up.

The company purchased the “Routeware” technology over the summer, according to the release, and plans to have it operational by January.

The announcement comes one year after the company was contracted by Canonsburg and the city of Washington. The city’s 5-year contract also began in January and will cost more than $4.04 million for solid waste and recycling collection, according to city officials.

“We are a growing, locally owned company,” said Alex Sulkowski, a director at County Hauling’s parent company Noble Environmental, in Friday’s news release. “We are thrilled to be able to service these communities. Ample trucks were put into service and local talent was sourced to staff them.”

The city has also received numerous complaints of missed pickups since the contract started. City officials met with County Hauling over the summer to request improvements to the service, and last month they sent a formal letter regarding the company’s performance bond.

Since that letter went out, service in Washington has improved, according to city Councilman Ken Westcott.

In the release, County Hauling states last month the city informed the company two trash pickups were missed.

“We responded immediately and explained to city leaders that our smart trucks will take video and photos of every attempted pickup,” Sulkowski said in the release. “We will know if it was a problem on our end, or if the household did not put the garbage out in time. Our service metrics are industry-leading. So each and every time there is an issue, even about two missed pickups, we have and we will continue to sit down with the leaders of the communities we serve to find solutions.”

Westcott and Councilman Joseph Manning said there were more than two missed pickups last month from the 4,700 customers.

“There were a couple missed pickups just last week,” Westcott said.

Lotus Grusofski, a solid waste clerk for the city, said she tracks the complaints she receives from residents.

“As soon as I get a complaint, I send an email to County Hauling,” Grusofski said. “Sometimes I have to send the same one three or four times because the customers will call me back saying it’s still not being picked up.”

She sent 17 emails in December, most of which are missed pickups and some of those include more than one address, she said. In November, she sent 14, and in October, 25.

“Some addresses they miss over and over again,” Grusofski said.

The company’s news release states Canonsburg reported no missed pickups this past week from the 3,400 customers. The borough’s administrative assistant Callie Munch, who takes complaints from residents, said while that’s true – there were no complaints this week – it was an exception.

“On average, we get at least 15 complaints a week,” Munch said.

County Hauling said in its release residents should contact the company directly with any concerns or questions by calling 724-929-7694 or emailing info@countyhauling.com.

In the release, Sulkowski said “equipment and workforce were not a challenge” for the company, but “we quickly realized that establishing new lines of communication with our customers could be our biggest opportunity.”

Both Canonsburg and Washington officials have stated they want to work with the company to resolve the issues and reduce the number of complaints. Westcott said last month the city doesn’t want to terminate its contract, but they also don’t want residents to pay for a service they don’t receive.

In the release, Sulkowski called his company the “hometown team.”

“We provide hundreds of jobs for the community, and we care about the environment because it’s our backyard too.”