Waste Pro town hall meeting Saturday
Waste Pro is planning to host a town hall meeting Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Northwest Regional Library in Cape Coral.
Regional Vice President Keith Banasiak said he was is looking to make it a “constructive forum,” and give residents the opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions.
“All of my staff will be there,” Banasiak said. “We may not have all the answers, but we can take information and work together to solve the problem.”
Waste Pro’s first week of service got off to a rough start, but Banasiak said the drivers are learning their routes and things are operating more smoothly now.
He called it a “step by step” process, in which the drivers learn their routes the first week, then work to refine those routes, and then look at what’s been missed repeatedly.
“Guys are getting done in a decent amount of time now,” he said. “It’s coming along.”
Banasiak said Waste Pro is working to offer a smaller container for “those in need,” but is still trying to work out the details of that program on Wednesday. He said it cost $6.8 million to distribute the waste and recycle carts city wide when Waste Pro took over.
While no plan exists for the smaller container size, he said Waste Pro staff is looking into it.
“The small container size could be offered to a limited group of people,” he said. “We’re trying to come up with a plan for people in need.”
It’s unknown whether City Council members or staff will be present for the town hall.
Neither city spokeswoman Connie Barron, nor council member Kevin McGrail returned calls and emails for comment. McGrail has been working with Waste Pro over the first weeks of their service, however.
Resident Walter Specht said he expects to attend the town hall to express his concern over the size of his waste bin.
Specht has repeatedly attended City Council meetings, where he’s said on the record that the waste bin is large enough to “fit a Volkswagen inside.”
Specht said he is going to take the same message to the town hall this weekend.
“I have a pacemaker, but I don’t need anybody to bring the can out and bring back in. It’s just the ones they supplied are too damn big,” Specht said. “It would take nine weeks to fill it.”