BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Ralph Sutliff lives in unincorporated Brevard County. About three weeks ago, he had a complaint about a missed trash pick-up.
“We had packing materials to put out that just wouldn’t fit in the bins, so I had to lay (it) on the ground,” Sutliff said. “It was there for at least three of their trips. It just continually sat there, and no one was picking it up. And I just happened to see online where they had a form you could fill out and let them know you needed to have things picked up.”
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Two days later, it was gone.
Channel 9 found out last month that there were 543 waste management complaints made to the county, which recently launched a new incentive program asking residents in unincorporated areas to report missed garbage, recycling and yard collections.
Residents serviced by the Brevard County Solid Waste Management Departments’ contract with waste management, who report missed collection services that can be verified by the county, could now receive a $14.53 incentive for a phone complaint and a $19.53 incentive for an electronically logged complaint.
READ: Brevard County implements program for reporting missed solid waste pickups
County commissioner Bryan Lober said, “The goals are two-fold.”
“(It centralizes) the complaints so we have a better idea in terms of where the service failures are occurring and trends, and what the real numbers are,” he said.
Channel 9 reached out to waste management on Monday and was told by officials: “Like many industries, environmental services are being impacted by the nationwide labor shortage. We are also experiencing longer-than-usual wait times at the disposal facilities, which are owned and operated by Brevard County.”
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The county also said it has extended hours at the landfill to accommodate waste management.
Complaints regarding missed service can be reported by calling 321-633-2042 or Brevard County’s website, brevardfl.gov. Look for the garbage collection complaints icon near the top of the homepage.
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