Amwaste off to a great start, representative says

Since Amwaste took over the city of Vestavia Hill’s sanitation services on Oct. 1, they’ve gotten off to a great start, said Rick Sweeney with Amwaste.

“The effort and coordination between the city and ourselves has been fantastic,” Sweeney said at the Oct. 12 City Council meeting.

Sweeney spoke to the Council and said Amwaste has seen a continued reduction from missed pickups from Oct. 1 and expects that to continue to be at low levels. 

Each day, Amwaste staff has a strategic review of their work, and they’ve also added a vehicle allowing them to get into tighter spots for small pickups, Sweeney said. They have focused on catching up on all action center items, and they’ve also started responding to residents to let them know they see their request, something the city said Republic, the previous provider, did not do. The percentage of misses is less than 1%, said City Manager Jeff Downes.

Amwaste collects trash twice weekly, with the second pickup day focused on recyclables that are taken to RePower South in Montgomery, which converts it into reusable fuel or commodities. Traditional trash is also taken that day, but Sweeney said his crews are trying to focus on household waste on the first pickup day and recyclables on the second day.

The only business item on the Council agenda was the approval of a contract with Specialty Turf Supply for athletic field maintenance, which was passed by the Council. The contract amount is about $285,000, a $25,000 reduction from STS’s previous contract for the same services, a result of the city reducing the number of natural turf fields, Downes said.

The Council also announced upcoming vacancies on both the Library Board and Parks and Recreation Board. Applications for both are due by 5 p.m. on Nov. 9, and the Council will appoint those new members at the Dec. 14 meeting.