Brookhaven Mayor Joe Cox has called a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen for Friday, July 7, at 9 a.m. to “approve to advertise for request for proposals of household garbage pickup and operation of the transfer station.”

The call for bids on a new company to handle the city’s garbage contract comes after aldermen have reported repeated complaints on the service, or lack thereof.

“I’m sick and tired of calls about garbage,” Alderman-at-large Don Underwood said at the board’s July 5 meeting. The board met on Wednesday because the regular first meeting of the month otherwise fell on July 4, Independence Day.

“Last week it was a day late. I appreciate you putting out the notice about it being a day late this week, Mr. Mayor (because of the holiday), but it just keeps getting later,” Underwood said.

“I echo the concerns about garbage,” Ward 2 Alderman Shannon Moore said. “I get two or three calls a week. They’re two to three days, or a week behind. We need to look back at that contract (with Arrow Disposal Services Inc.).”

At the board’s previous meeting on June 20, ADSI area manager Charles Lungrin appeared before the aldermen, blaming the company’s repeated issues on a high rate of employee turnover, time to train, and constant vehicle upkeep and maintenance. Lungrin said as of that day, the city’s pickup was “caught up.”

“It’s not that it’s once every three months,” Moore said then. “It’s every week. I understand y’all signed on as our contractor. If (pickup is) once a week, it really needs to happen. It’s sure enough a problem.”

This week, Moore said his patience has run out with the contractor.

“I used to have sympathy for them, but I don’t have any more sympathy.”

The City’s contract with ADSI ends on Oct. 1, 2023. The City can renew the contract for one year, or go with a bid from a new contractor. The call for bids will allow other contractors to apply for Brookhaven’s residential garbage collection business.

All that is required at the meeting Friday is a majority vote to go ahead with advertising for bids. No opposition was expected.