Shannon Meuleman, Martin Environmental director of sales, appeared before the Lowndes County Commission on Aug. 12 to discuss obstacles for moving forward with approval of the county’s garbage collection contract.
“We were awarded the bid back in April or May and we have submitted a contract to the commission,” Mueleman said. “I believe attorney [Prince] Chestnut had that and was… making corrections. We got an email a couple of months ago and I reached out last week asking where we were in the process. That was my main concern.”
In addition to the status of contract approval, Meuleman enquired about payment the county owed to Martin for exempt garbage customers. Commission Chairman Charlie King, Jr. explained that the payment had been withheld because Martin had not remitted $1 for each exempt customer per month, as required by a previous contract with Liberty Disposal which Martin purchased in 2022. According to King, the total amount owed to the county is more than $17,000.
According to Mueleman, Martin is currently providing garbage pickup for Lowndes County without a contract and is not subject to the terms of the prior contract. Martin purchased the service area from Liberty, but according to Alabama law, contracts with municipalities cannot be transferred unless assigned by the municipality.
“Any time there is a purchase of another waste disposal company, the municipalities are supposed to assign the contract, make amendments or rebid it out,” Meuleman said. “Two years ago, in September 2022, is when we purchased Liberty. We approached Lowndes, Wilcox, Selma and said, ‘Hey this is where we are.’
“I wasn’t involved at the time, but I believe our owner, then other people contacted municipalities multiple times and nobody really responded to that request. Lowndes County decided to rebid it. We bid on it and won the low bid. We never had a contract [with Lowndes County.]”
Commissioner Robert Harris questioned Meuleman regarding whether the county owed Martin for garbage service provided to exempt customers since no contract was in place. Meuleman promised to relay the question to Martin’s president, Brandon Hurst, who was unable to attend the commission meeting.
Harris also pointed out that Lowndes County customers have experienced delays with garbage collection service. Some citizens have reported difficulty reaching Martin representatives to report the concerns.
Larry Adams, garbage collection enforcement officer, confirmed that customers had reported difficulties with reaching Martin representatives.
“For the past two months, we’ve had problems making contact with Martin,” Adams said. “Garbage pickup [is behind] seven or eight days.”
Adams also explained that garbage cans are not being delivered on time. In addition, his office has not received requested reports identifying past due customers.
Mueleman promised commissioners he would follow up with the information requested.
Most Popular
Comments / 0