Frustrations about trash pickup in Columbus boiled over during a contentious city council work session Thursday, as representatives from Golden Triangle Waste Services pitched cutting collections back to once a week.

Supply chain issues have GTWS struggling to keep its aging fleet on the road and get new trucks built and delivered. Pickups have often been running several days behind throughout its three-county area as a result. Last week GTWS met with city officials and suggested cutting back to one pickup per week, rather than two.

Of its clients in Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Webster counties, the cities of Columbus and Eupora are both contracted for two-day garbage collection each week. All others are already set for once weekly.

Thursday morning GTWS Board Attorney Shane Thompkins asked the council to consider cutting back from two to one pickup per week until September 2023, which is the end of its current contract.

“Of our 15 trucks, five are dedicated just to Columbus,” he said. “We’ve got six down right now. We would be picking up the same amount of garbage, just on a single day. That allows us to move trucks around.”

That one-day pickup would come with a rate reduction, Thompkins said. GTWS charges the city $10.90 per household now and would cut that to $9.90. He justified that amount by saying the organization does not make money on residential pickup.

“We’ve been picking up your garbage for 25-plus years,” he said. “We have never been in the black (for residential pickup), ever. We make our money back with commercial pickup. … We bill you $1,269,000. Total cost for your pickup is $1.7 million.”

Normally the operation doesn’t dip that far into the red, Thompkins said, but overtime, additional truck maintenance and fuel costs are driving up the costs.

Thompkins said the city would save almost $10,000 per month, based on the $1 reduction spread over the approximately 9,700 houses where GTWS picks up.

Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, councilman for Ward 2, was incensed at the offer.

“We’re always being subjected to living below our means,” Mickens said. “Why should we have to make adjustments? Why (do) people got to change their living conditions? … Cutting back to one day a week isn’t going to help us.”

“What other things could we do to as a company?” asked GTWS General Manager Mary Ann Gilliland, who also attended the work session. “We’re open to recommendations.”

“First of all, you all have the job,” Mickens said. “You ought to be bringing us recommendations.”

Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard had his own suggestion.

“I think what y’all should do is leave it how it is and give us a break because of what’s been going on,” he said. “Some people are still not getting a two-day trash pickup. They’re paying a full amount for one day of service.”

Chief Financial Officer James Brigham also weighed in. GTWS charges the city $10.90 to pick up garbage, but the city charges citizens $17.50, which includes landfill fees and other costs. He said cutting that rate by a dollar while cutting service in half gave the appearance of gouging.

“(The taxpayers) are going through inflation and they understand higher costs,” he said. “They don’t understand being gouged. If we give them the message that we’re going to one day a week … they are going to expect to pay somewhere between $8 or $9. But that’s not possible for us because you’re going from $10.90 to $9.90.”

Brigham also asked if the city agreed to the proposal if it would ever get two pickups again.

“Once you give something up, you’re not getting it back,” Brigham said. “The question is once you get the trucks, would you go back to two a week?”

Thompkins emphasized the cutback would be for the remainder of the contract.

“If you want to go back to two pickups in your new contract, that’s fine,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been doing for 25 years, and we haven’t had any issues with until right now.”

No decision was made at the work session, but Mayor Keith Gaskin said a decision needed to be made by Tuesday, which is the date of the next council meeting.

Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.