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Martin Environmental forced to consider termination for nonpayment

Garbage collection was a hot topic at the Lowndes County Commission meeting Monday as commissioners requested an update on negotiations with the county’s provider, Martin Environmental Services. Meanwhile, talks between the county and the provider Wednesday may have staved off termination of services for roughly 300 exempt customers for now, while the two seek to agree on contract terms.

“We think we have a path forward,” said County Attorney Prince Chestnut, who talked with Martin Environmental President Brandon Hurst and Sales Director Shannon Meuleman around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 10. “The commission needs to come together and make a decision in an open meeting, but we have the opportunity to put something together to satisfy everyone so that we can keep those citizens getting their services.”

Chestnut advised the commission during its Sept. 9 meeting that he was waiting to hear from the provider on agreeing to suggested revisions to a proposed contract. But in a statement issued to The Lowndes Signal late Sunday, Hurst said the county’s nonpayment of exempt-customer collection fees had forced him to consider terminating garbage pickup for those residents.

“As of this upcoming week all exempt customers will lose service due to the county not paying us for the services they have asked us to provide to those constituents,” Hurst said in the statement. “We have given the county multiple notices and have tried to work with them but have received no response.”

Hurst said he considers service termination the last option in a series of attempts to collect payment from the county and to get a contract in place after Martin Environmental won the county’s bid process in April.

“We sent a contract that reflected the terms of the bid request and they don’t like that,” Hurst said. “I [previously] sent a detailed letter with timelines and tried to outline exactly where we are, how we got here and [the county’s] responsibilities under Alabama bid law. We try to be as flexible as possible and we are still picking up trash, but they haven’t paid us for roughly $30,000. So if they don’t come to a conclusion, basically exempt customers are going to lose service because no one is paying for them.”

“I don’t want to do that, because the residents are caught in the middle. There’s not another garbage company trying to come in. We have employees who live in Lowndes County so we are not trying to do anything wrong, but obviously we want to be treated right as well.”

Martin Environmental purchased the service territory from then-provider Liberty Disposal (LDI) in September 2022 and according to Hurst, Liberty’s contract had been amended multiple times. He said numerous attempts to get county officials to assign the contract to Martin Environmental had failed, so his company has provided service since acquiring the territory without a contract in place.

The current stalemate resulted after the county refused to approve a proposed contract without a $1 per exempt customer franchise fee formerly paid by LDI. The commission has withheld payment for exempt customers while attempting to bring the provision into a current agreement.

“The franchise fee was not in the bid request,” Hurst said. “Should we stop service to people who have nothing but Social Security to live on? It is the county’s responsibility to pay for exempt customer’s service. Had we known about the franchise fee, we would have worked it into our prices.”

Commission Chairman Charlie King participated in a conference call with Chestnut and Martin Environmental representatives. Prior to Hurst’s statement, King said he had not been advised of potential service termination.

In the absence of a contract, Hurst said the provider may ultimately be forced to consider ceasing all service to Lowndes County. The unpaid balance represents services already provided and without coming to terms, he will eventually phase out service to Lowndes County all together.

“If we haven’t made any inroads by the end of the year, as people become delinquent we probably wouldn’t allow any additional customers,” Hurst said. “We would just basically phase out at the end of the year for everyone [in the county.] I’m willing to be flexible, and I will add a fee [to our prices] if that’s what they want me to do, but I’m not going to give them one of the dollars we need to make sure we serve the people properly.”