Editorial: Republic Waste promises to do better in Sumpter Township

After about 20 minutes of discussion at Tuesday’s Sumpter Township meeting, Scott Cabauatan from Republic Waste said, “This is not the service we want to deliver.” He said he started off in 2004 in Sumpter and, “It pains me to be up here today. I hope it’s the last time for this reason.”
Cabauatan, Republic’s Municipal Manager for Southern Michigan and Northern Ohio, talked about the service concerns with trash pickup in Sumpter.
“We did a great job until December and January,” he said, noting that they had issues with the weather and with drivers.
Cabauatan said the shortage of CDL-licensed employees, sick time, and scheduled vacations put them behind. He said in the next three weeks they will have 14-16 new, road-ready employees.
“Hopefully we can right the ship without you having to call the township,” he said to the large crowd present.
It was pointed out trash truck drivers were held to MDOT standards and have to have down time after certain shifts and can only work so many hours.
Several people in the audience said they had to talk to people who never heard of Sumpter when they called in to complain about missed pickups. Cabauatan said Republic didn’t have a local complaint line, but had call services in Phoenix, Indianapolis, and South Carolina.
Sumpter residents agreed to give them a chance to work things out.