The city of Pine Bluff and Waste Management (WM) of Arkansas held a town hall meeting on Thursday, March 24th at the Pine Bluff Convention Center to address specific topics and answer public questions or concerns. The meeting featured informational tables presented by Waste Management and the Aquatics Center who offered information about their services and souvenirs.
George Wheatley who has been the Public Sector Area Representative for Waste Management for over 26 years, conducted the meeting beginning with a presentation addressing customer service, bulky waste pickup program, yard waste, and trash carts. In relation to the first item on the agenda, customer service, many individuals present including members of the city council complained about the phone service and long wait times to speak to someone. Councilman Steven Shaner spoke with Deltaplex news about the importance of the meeting and his thoughts on the customer service phone line.
In response to those concerns, Wheatley elaborated on what they did in the past and spoke about some of the improvements made.
Wheatley went on to announce that WM is hiring one person who will be housed at their hauling company in Pine Bluff to answer calls and be a call service representative for the city.
On the subject of bulk waste, Wheatley explained the process that customers should take when needing to get rid of large waste items such as sofas, refrigerators, etc.
Wheatley went on to announce that the number to schedule a bulk waste pickup is 870-247-3747. WM introduced a sticker that will be placed on bulky trash items to remind residents to call in order to get that trash picked up between 1-3 days.
The next topic of discussion was yard waste and trash carts including that landscape jobs including large yard work trash have to be dispersed by the individuals that were hired to do those jobs. Wheatley also advised residents to place carts five feet away from other carts and other yard amenities like the mailbox to prevent damage or the cause of knocking trash over. WM will be leaving notices on the trash that they are unable to pick up highlighting the reason why so that residents can make those changes.
To close out the meeting, Mayor Shirley Washington along with members of the city council, Shaner, Steven Mays, Glen Brown Sr., and Lloyd Holcomb Jr. extended a thank you to Wheatley for his service in Pine Bluff after he announced his retirement. Wheatley announced that he will be replaced by Jamie Vernon to represent Pine Bluff beginning in April.
