During the work session of the BOC (Board of Commissioners) tonight (4.4.19), City Manager Shane Horn said about 7,000 of the estimated 12,480 old trash containers have not been collected by former trash vendor Republic Services.
The City switched to a new vendor, Team Waste, this week after the previous vendor was to empty and pickup old trash, yard waste and recycling carts during two weeks in March.
The plan did not go according to Hoyle. Mr. Horn said it is estimated that more than half of the old carts still on the street remain to be collected by Republic.
Link to agenda: https://tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/835
Link to Livestream: https://livestream.com/lakeland/events/8628156
Mr. Horn said, “Our vendor has not done a good job.” He offered kudos to Team Waste for helping Republic with the collection process. But he said the City continues to be frustrated with options to finish the process.
He said Republic has been given another deadline of Saturday (4.6.19) to pick up all the old carts. “I apologize to our residents. At some point we are going to get this done.” He said the City is considering options which include picking up the carts with City manpower or paying yet another vendor to pick them up.
“I want to highlight Rhonda Fink, our community service representative,” said Mr. Horn. He said she has been handling hundreds of phone calls in a professional and courteous way.”
Parliamentarian discussion
Commissioner Wesley Wright introduced the concept of hiring a parliamentarian to monitor BOC meetings. He suggested such a person could take pressure off any of the Board and establish order. He said he thought such an objective person would be beneficial to everyone.
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Commissioner Richard Gonzales Jr. said the chair (meaning the Mayor) could overrule a parliamentarian. The question was put to City Attorney Mike Marshall. He said he knew the City Charter required meetings be run by Robert’s Rules of Order, but said he didn’t know about the role of a parliamentarian.
Mayor Mike Cunningham said the chair has final say in what happens in meetings. He noted there is a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) deputy at meetings. So he didn’t feel there was anything to gain by hiring a parliamentarian. He said, “I don’t want to add another level of ambiguity.”
Commissioner Wright added that he thought a parliamentarian would help with people in the audience who become unruly. He said the person would be a referee of sorts to calm things down. He was referencing some BOC meetings of late where there was back-and-forth commentary between those on the dais and those in the audience.
There was also discussion originated by Mr. Horn for rules of procedure guidance for BOC members.
After much dialog, it was suggested by Vice Mayor Roman it might be beneficial to have an exercise to determine standards and rules for BOC members BY BOC members. He noted he didn’t think any of the Commissioners have really tried. He said the group has only been together four months although it feels longer. He said he thought the BOC could govern itself better than a third party.
Other business
- March crime information from the SCSO was 28 reports with one each burglary of a residence and of a non-residence along with two thefts from motor vehicles (both unlocked) and three thefts from buildings.
- Community Advisory Board (CAB) applications are trickling in, said Mr. Horn. The deadline to submit applications for the volunteer board, which will be comprised of residents representing eight distinct geographic areas of the City, is April 12th although the deadline may be extended.
- The semi-annual Community Clean-Up Day will be April 27th from 8 a.m. to noon.
- The annual Fishing Rodeo is May 18th at IH Park.
- Minutes from the special meeting March 20th were removed from the consent agenda.
… Photos, video by Jim Willis, Lakeland Currents
