Trash cans might start vanishing in Houston

If trash pickup customers in unincorporated Houston County soon discover their containers are disappearing, they probably do not need to call the law.

Advanced Disposal, the company that provides trash pickup outside the city limits, will soon begin picking up containers that aren’t being paid for by residents.

Jeanne Moyer, the operations manager for the company, estimated that about 1,000 containers in the county are not being paid for. She said it typically happens when a resident moves out and a neighbor comes over, gets the containers and starts using it. The resident is then using two containers while paying for only one.

In other cases, she said, people may move into a home and start putting the containers out while not signing up for the service. That happens on one route where many of the customers are not on county water. The water service is typically how the county knows to start billing a new resident for trash service. In those cases residents may be getting trash pickup without paying for it at all.

Starting Oct. 31, when the company does trash pickup, a separate truck towing a trailer will follow behind. The following truck will have list of the containers each resident is paying for, and any extra containers will be picked up.

Anyone who wants to make sure they are paying the correct amount before any containers are taken can call Public Works at 478-987-4280.

Moyer explained the problem and the need for the audit to the Houston County Commission on Tuesday. The company will pay for the cost of the audit.

Commission Chairman Tommy Stalnaker said he understood why it needs to be done, but he and other commissioners said they would be surprised if 1,000 containers have to be picked up.

Moyer said the company services about 18,500 single containers in the county, and several thousand more extra containers. A single container costs $11 per month, and if people want an extra containers, they would pay $6 more. Moyer said she has seen as many as six containers at a home where the resident is paying for only one.

Another cause of extra containers showing up, she said, is that the company services areas all over the state and country. When people move they sometimes bring their container with them, so some people are bringing in containers from other areas.

Moyer said any containers that are picked up will be redelivered at no cost as long as the resident agrees to pay the extra cost.

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Trash cans might start vanishing in Houston."