During the Aug. 6 council meeting, Jeri Harwell, manager of municipal services for Republic Services, addressed what will be different for Grapevine residents this fall.
Republic Services will start using automated side-loading trash trucks, which will require all residents to use the trash cans provided on Oct. 1, she said.
Sorting out details
Republic Services did a pilot program with some neighborhoods in Grapevine, with residents getting 95-gallon bins, Harwell said.
Harwell said staffing concerns went into the change as the company was using temp agencies to fill positions of sanitation engineers. She said despite paying $24 an hour, “it's not a job that everyone wants to apply for.”
City Council approved a 10-year contract extension with Republic Services that went into effect in 2023. About 1,500 residents were part of the pilot program this year and Harwell said about 400 returned surveys to give feedback.
Harwell provided the following data to the council:
- 80% liked the cart but not the size
- 40% preferred a smaller cart than the 95-gallon cart
- 20% said they would need an additional trash can
Harwell said the default trash cart size will be 95 gallons unless the customer reaches out to Republic Services for a 65-gallon cart. She said the 95-gallon trash cart can hold about a dozen kitchen-sized trash bags, but only trash inside the carts will be collected.
Delivery of the carts will happen in mid-September and an additional cart would be $6 per month, she added.
“While you can get a lot in it, it becomes very heavy,” council member Leon Leal said. “My concerns are for those who are older or not very healthy. How will they get that larger cart to the curb for pickup?”
Harwell said customers who are elderly or have a disability can contact her and backdoor trash cart pickup service will be added for no additional cost.
Diving in deeper
In addition to twice-weekly automated pickup, Republic Services will have pickup each Wednesday for items not in the blue carts.
According to Grapevine Environmental Manager Dewey Stoffels, clean brush and tree limb pickup will be on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. The second and fourth Wednesdays will be bulk trash and brush that would go to the landfill.
What they’re saying
“There’s a lot of work for Dewey and Republic Services to do in the next 60 days to work through August and September to be set for the Oct. 1 rollout of the blue containers,” Grapevine City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said.
