City sees effects of GPS investigation

The restructuring of city employees following an undercover GPS investigation by Dyersburg Mayor John Holden has placed the responsibility of city's knuckleboom trucks under Solid Waste Management Superintendent John Damesworth. The result was a concentrated effort to clean up Milltown with workers picking up 15.16 tons from curbsides throughout the community in just three days. New routes will also provide curbside debris pickup to every resident of Dyersburg once a week instead of once every four to five weeks. Residents may now set debris on the curb for pickup by the city the same day as their scheduled backdoor garbage pickup.

The recent GPS investigation of random trucks throughout the street department revealed staggering waste of hours and fuel by many employees. As a result, the mayor ordered more GPS systems to be installed and moved the management of the city's knuckleboom trucks from the Street Department to the Sanitation Department.

At the meeting, Holden and Solid Waste Superintendent John Damesworth informed aldermen of the progress made since the trucks and employees were placed under Damesworth's supervision on Oct. 1. The aldermen also learned of new revenue for the landfill totaling nearly $300,000 since January through the city's new deal with Branum's Disposal to accept waste from several Missouri counties.

The Finance Committee was represented by Chairman Lewis Norman and members Kevin Chaney and Bob Kirk, with the Street and Sanitation Committee represented by Chairman Freeman Dudley, Chaney and Shannon Walker. Alderman Bart Williams also joined the meeting with Damesworth, Holden, City Treasurer Steve Anderson and City Recorder Gleyn Twilla.

Damesworth reported that training has been completed for the employees now under his supervision and that workers in the Sanitation Department are now completing curbside debris pickup for the entire city within a one-week time frame.

Residents may now place debris at the curb for pickup on the same day that they are scheduled for back-door garbage pickup.

"It's been two weeks and we are finishing up around 11:30 a.m. every day," said Damesworth. "We are parking the trucks, performing maintenance and washing and fixing them up. You'll see the knuckleboom trucks parked more and they won't go to the landfill unless they are full. If they come in half-full at the end of the route, they will sit there until the next day when we fill them up and then we'll take them to the landfill. We are not getting off our routes. If we stick to these routes every week, we shouldn't have any trouble."

Damesworth said keeping to the schedule and finishing the routes early will allow workers to catch up if a situation arises during the week to cause employees to fall behind.

"If we run behind one day, we still should be able to do it," said Damesworth. "We should be able to be all over town for that week. We are also getting everything (on the curb). We are picking up TVs and taking them to Daniel Cobb's office. We are picking up tires and taking them where they need to go. We just can't pick up hazardous waste."

"That's good service," said Kirk.

"We've changed curbside pickup from once every four to five weeks to every week," said Holden. "And we've done that for two weeks now."

A schedule of the new curbside debris pickup schedule for homes throughout Dyersburg has been updated on the city's Web site. Holden also gave aldermen and employees at City Hall a copy of the new routes.

At the meeting, aldermen also learned that the city received $281,816.88 of landfill revenue from January until September of this year through a new agreement with Branum's Disposal, a solid waste company serving several Missouri counties.

Anderson reported landfill revenue for July through September of this year at $165,030.96, an increase of over $70,000 for the same fiscal quarter in 2008. Revenue of $93,537.96 was collected from July through September 2008. The contract to collect household sanitation waste to Dyersburg's landfill was created between Presiding Commissioner (County Mayor) of Pemiscot County Jim Atchison and Mayor John Holden.

Damesworth said the new customer does not reduce the lifeline of the cells at Dyersburg's landfill.

"Solid Waste Management has not been bringing in what we planned for," said Damesworth. "What happened is Branum's just came in and took up their slack."