Clinton Township officials want more improvements from waste hauler

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Priority Waste was previously given until Sept. 16 to fix its waste management service in Clinton Township or face fees. Those fees will start to show up on the township’s next monthly payment to the company.

The penalties came after a closed session of a Clinton Township Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 26. Trustees came out of the session and unanimously voted to impose a $50 fee for each unresolved customer complaint each day there is a lapse in service. According to Township Attorney Jack Dolan, this is allowed in the township’s waste management contract.

Matt Allen, Priority Waste’s director of public relations and government affairs, said the company set Sept. 9 as a date to work out the kinks.

“All those things that we said would happen took place that week. It’s been really pretty awesome,” Allen said in an Oct. 1 interview. “Clinton Township is in pretty good shape.”

Township Treasurer Paul Gieleghem, who chairs the Refuse Disposal Committee, said that the $50 fines will be deducted from the bill the township pays monthly to Priority Waste. Gieleghem said the fees have happened and will be factored into the next payment, though he didn’t have an exact amount at press time. He said setting the fee has worked for the township.

“By stepping up, passing that initiative to say we are going to start fining and exercising this option in our contract, it kind of had its intended effect,” Gieleghem said.

Department of Public Services Director Mary Bednar said the Priority Waste essentially has three days to rectify complaints that are filed through the township. For example, if someone’s trash isn’t picked up on Monday and the township is made aware of that on Tuesday, Priority Waste has until Wednesday to address the issue before a fine would be incurred.

According to Bednar, things have improved since the fines have been implemented.

Some of these issues stem from repairs to the fleet the company inherited from GFL Environmental. Allen said this was the crux of many customer issues.

“It’s kind of hard to service 700,000 people with less than half the trucks you were expecting 60 days prior,” he said in a previous interview.

Improvements to the technology Priority Waste utilizes have also addressed some of the concerns of township residents, according to Allen. This includes an online customer portal where residents can submit complaints to the service to be resolved.

“The call volume has just dropped into the basement,” Allen said.

Bednar confirmed that the township can now manage complaints made to the township in the portal.

“The complaint gets put in and we can see when it was addressed and how it was addressed,” Bednar said. “If they have a video, that will be attached. That should make the tracking a lot easier moving forward.”

Allen explains that the technology leads to greater accountability, closing any potential gaps in service. This is done through cameras on trucks that monitor collection.

Gieleghem said he had heard about customers encountering long wait times when calling the service. He had even waited for a half-hour trying to reach the service. In a recent interview, Gieleghem said complaints are down but there’s room for improvement.

“I still think they’re struggling to staff up and have all the equipment they need to properly serve our community and all the others they took on,” Gieleghem said.

Priority Waste took over operations from GFL in 73 communities and for 70,000 subscription customers in five counties across southeast Michigan July 1. Clinton Township isn’t the only community that has had concerns since the transition. At a Sept. 9 Grosse Pointe Park City Council meeting, Priority Waste officials addressed negative feedback from council members.

“We really appreciate everyone taking this journey with us to get us where we are today,” Allen said. “This has been the largest essential services takeover in the state’s history. We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as we did this together. We look forward to many years of service in Clinton Township.”

Priority Waste can be reached at (855) 927-8365. If residents are not getting help from Priority Waste, they can call the township at (586) 286-9300, so they can make sure the issue is logged and resolved.