Lincoln County and Waste Management officials say it will take alittle time for residents and company employees to get used to newgarbage pickup routes following the recent change in serviceproviders.

Waste Management took over pickup services last Oct. 1 after thecounty’s contract with BFI expired. County solid waste and companyoffices have been inundated with calls this week from residentsquestioning why their garbage had not been picked up.

“We’re getting quite a few calls,” said Jim Funderburg, districtmanager for Waste Management.

Lincoln County Solid Waste Clerk Debbie Brent wouldn’t venture aguess on the number of calls received.

“I couldn’t tell you how many times a day this phone rings,”Brent said.

Officials said problems were “multi-faceted” because ofcitizens’ confusion over Waste Management routes that differ fromBFI pickup routes, Waste Management drivers getting used to theroutes and route maps that do not show a number of small countyroads.

“I think it’s a learning curve for both sides,” Funderburgsaid.

Brent said pickup days for a large part of the county remainedunchanged but some residents will see their garbage picked up on adifferent day.

“It seems the biggest change is going to be Tuesday, andFriday’s are going to change,” Brent said.

Brent said pickup for a southeastern portion of the county wasmoving from Tuesday to Wednesday and a northwestern portion wasgoing from Friday to Thursday. Wednesday is Waste Management’slargest collection day, with its route covering much of thesouthern part of the county.

The new garbage pickup routes and schedule were published for aweek in the newspaper last week.

Brent said some callers said they were unaware of the change andsuggested the county should have called to let them know. With15,000 garbage accounts, however, Brent indicated that was notfeasible.

Regarding drivers, Funderburg said displaced BFI drivers weregiven an opportunity to join Waste Management. He said onecompleted the interview process and was offered a job, but thedriver quit the day before Waste Management was to startservices.

“Some didn’t want to come over from the get-go,” saidFunderburg, adding that many accepted BFI jobs elsewhere.

As calls about missed garbage come in, Brent said she wasworking with Waste Management officials to identify roads inquestion so they are not skipped in the future. Funderburg saidemployees are working to collect missed garbage as it isreported.

Funderburg said the county situation is similar to when WasteManagement began services in the city earlier this year.

“We had a lot of calls at first,” he said. “After two or threeweeks, they leveled off and now we’re at a minimum.”

Funderburg anticipated it would take about a month for driversto get used to county roads and pick up routes. He said thingsshould then smooth out.

“I hope within a month we’ll get as few calls as we get now withthe city of Brookhaven,” Funderburg said. “I feel sincerely that wewill.”