Fort Wayne’s Public Works department addressed concerns over garbage pickup, in the first month of service under the newly-contracted waste management firm, Red River.
Red River Waste Solutions bid nearly $7 million for rights to garbage and recycling collection in Fort Wayne, the lowest combined bid among five different companies. They were awarded the contract in May, and began service on January 2.
Since then, residents have called the city’s 311 center with complaints of missed pickups on service days. Public Works responded with a news release on Friday, with both the department and Red River apologizing for the inconveniences.
Tuesday, Public Works addressed City Council. Director Shan Gunawardena says routes weren't the issue.
"Once they had missed pickups, going back to address those was a problem," said Gunawardena. "That's where they had the shortage of drivers become the biggest issue for us."
Gunawardena says growing pains were expected in Red River's transition.
“We are not seeing anything we did not expect to see; this was kind of an anticipated issue," he said. "But we do expect to see improvements within six to eight weeks.”
He added that calls to 311 from residents were helpful in allowing them to identify errors, and that fewer calls have been coming in as a result.
