Parish, Progressive at impassé

The contract for solid waste collection in Acadia Parish provides for penalties if collections are missed — provided certain criteria is met.

The complaint must be properly documented and the collection company — Progressive Waste Solutions — has 24 hours from the time it receives the complaint to “make it right.”

If not, the parish has the authority to fine Progressive $250 a day for each day the garbage is not picked up.

To date, the parish has levied “over $20,000” in fines against the parish contractor, according to Solid Waste Committee Chairman A.J. “Fatty” Broussard.

Asked how much Progressive has paid in fines, Broussard replied, “Zero.”

The problem, according to juror A.J. “Jay” Credeur, is that “there is no complete circle of complaints.”

In other words, he explained to the committee and fellow jurors Tuesday night, there is no way to definitively know if the can was emptied within 24 hours of the company receiving notification.

Indeed, at a meeting earlier this year, Dave Clabo, area marketing manager for Progressive, told jurors that, if they could provide documentation that the service calls had been missed and not serviced as noted, the company would pay the fines.

Most of the complaint forms include a notation that a Progressive driver reported servicing the complaint within hours of notification, thus nullifying fine.

But Broussard said he has noticed inconsistencies in the reports, including drivers claiming they replied to the same complaint more than once.

“Why would you go back to the same house more than once if you already emptied the can?” he asked.

Other multiple complaints from the individual residents, filed on consecutive days, would indicate that the garbage had not been picked up. However, notification at the bottom of each claims that it had been.

Broussard presented a complaint from a resident on John Martin Road who claimed that his garbage had not been collected since June 25.

“He said he’s called us, he’s called them and his can is still out in front of his house,” Broussard said. “It’s been more than a month. Why can’t we fine (Progressive) $250 a day for a month?”

But Credeur continued to downplay the complaints.

“I realize that it’s important to each and every resident when their garbage doesn’t get picked up,” he said. “And it’s important to me when it doesn’t get picked up, but I remember when Allied Waste was here and we were getting 450 complaints a month.”

Broussard presented a list of 55 complaints registered at the Acadia Parish Sanitary Landfill since Aug. 1. If that pace continues, the parish can expect nearly 350 comlaints this month.

“There’s no one to ride around and check to see if the trash has been picked up,” Broussard said. “We would have to hire someone to do just that — eight hours a day.”

Jury President David Savoy concurred.

“If we don’t follow up when Progressive says trash has been picked up, then you can throw all those slips of paper (complaint forms) away.”