September 16, 2002
Council President Woolard
and the Members of City Council
City of Atlanta
55 Trinity Avenue
Suite 2900
Atlanta, GA 30335-0300
Re: Backlog of Bulk Rubbish (New Bulk Rubbish and Yard Trimming Policy)
President Woolard and Members:
I am writing to inform you of and share with you the plan developed by the Department of Public Works for bulk rubbish collections. The following gives a short overview of the issue as well as presents the new strategy.
In mid-July Mayor Shirley Franklin responded to a growing number of complaints that bulk rubbish was not being picked up on a timely basis. The Mayor committed to an in-depth review and corrective action. Upon researching the problem, the City determined there were some 903 bulk rubbish piles established as backlog. Deeming that unacceptable, Mayor Franklin further committed to have the backlog cleared by September 10th and, as of six days ago, that goal was realized.
During the past three weeks, the Department of Public Works has performed an in-depth analysis of this issue and realized that fundamental problems have hampered the overall effort to have an effective program. The focus of this research was past methods, new findings and the rate at which new piles appear. In this same time-period, the City tracked the piles, and discovered that they appear at a rate of 500 per week, as opposed to the 500 per month originally thought to be the accurate amount. This amount exceeds the City’s current capacity to handle the piles and as a result, we now have a “new” backlog of 800+ piles that has appeared since the City cleared the old backlog.
The locations of these new piles have been entered into a computerized work management system and effective today, the City has implemented a plan of action to collect the “new” backlog.
Effective today, September 16, 2002, the Department of Public Works will pick up bulk rubbish by appointment only. Customers will be required to call in and speak to a Solid Waste Customer Service Representative in order to receive a work order number and a collection appointment date. Appointments will be scheduled between 9 am and 4 pm daily, Monday through Friday using the Hansen Maintenance Management Tracking System. Scheduled pick-ups will begin October 14, 2002.
Public Works will pick up piles for which it has appointments and work order numbers only. The number of appointments on any given day will be consistent with our anticipated capacity on that day.
We are initiating a state of the art call center program to handle the projected call load for the appointments. Designed to emulate the best practices of Charlotte, NC, Phoenix, Arizona, DeKalb County, Georgia, and North Fulton County, Georgia the call center will be up and operational by October 14th. This is also the date the City will begin to pick up the piles for which appoints have been made and work orders issued.
Until that time, we are placing a moratorium on bulk rubbish and asking the public to refrain from placing additional bulk rubbish on the street. The City will be collecting documented piles only between today and October 14th.
Please note that from today through October 14, 2002 the City will accept calls from citizens to schedule appointments, although actual pick-ups of new piles will not begin until October 14th. The intervening time will be used to clear the streets of the “new” backlog. The call center will not be operational until the end of this period so I have arranged with Public Works to implement a short-term plan to handle these callers and schedule their appointments.
In the event citizens do not use the call center to schedule appointments, we propose several methods to handle this failure to comply with the new policy; a Courtesy Notice of Violation will be issued, afterwards a citation (pending legislative approval), followed by a fine (pending legislative approval).
Along with compliance, an important aspect of this battle is public education; helping residents fully understand the difference between bulk rubbish and yard trimming.
Residents will be notified of the slated changes in solid waste services and the differences in waste through a variety of educational outreach programs and media campaigns. Those will include doorknockers, magnets, citywide notification calls, and public services announcements initiated over the next two weeks.
Other elements of this program include NPU presentations as well as the training of customer service personnel, managers, and route analysis personnel.
Please note the key dates for the rollout of this action plan below:
|
September 13, 2002 |
Customer Service phone number is activated |
|
September 16, 2002 |
Program Announcement
One-Call to Public
Doorknockers are distributed to educate public
Customers may begin calling to schedule pick-ups
Public Works begins collection process for outstanding piles |
|
September 30, 2002 |
Public Works begins to issue courtesy notices of violation to offenders of new policy |
|
October 14, 2002 |
First Pick-up date under new process |
|
November 30, 2002 |
Public Works will start issuing violation citations |
I request the support of the Council as well as that of your constituents as we go forward to roll out this new plan for bulk rubbish collection. We understand a revision in City Code will be necessary to enact this plan into policy and therefore, appropriate legislation will be forwarded to the Council shortly.
Thank you for your continued support and cooperation.
Sincerely,
Lynnette W. Young
Chief Operating Officer