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NATCHEZ—Bulk materials pickup, a new service offered by the City of Natchez garbage collection vendor that residents pay for in their monthly garbage fee, has left some residents confused about how it works.

Natchez resident Barbara Winkworth said she made several calls to different people and agencies to no avail.

“It was put out in your paper sometime back that it was going to happen, but apparently, when myself and a couple of others wanted more information, like what we could put out there, no one seemed to know anything about it,” Winkworth said.

“I started by calling the phone number on the garbage bins, but they told me I could not get that information from them and told me to call the water company. I called the water company, and they had no idea what I was talking about,” she said. “No one seemed to know anything about it. Everybody is frustrated because we have a garage full of things we would like to put out there, but we don’t know when the pick up is and what they will pick up.”

Others described having similar experiences to Winkworth’s on social media.

Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said he had not received phone calls about bulk materials pick up. However, he said he would happily explain how the process works.

Bulk materials collection

Meridian Waste, which the city contracts for garbage collection services, provides curbside collection of up to eight cubic yards of bulk materials twice monthly.

Recently, Meridian Waste purchased ADSI — Arrow Disposal Services Inc. — which held the city’s garbage collection contract. However, the managers and others who worked for ADSI now work for Meridian Waste.

What is collected?

Bulk landscaping materials include large limbs and piles of tree trimmings that are too heavy to be collected by hand. Limbs must be cut six feet or less long and no more than 8 inches in diameter. This service is intended for tree limbs too large for the city’s regular twice-weekly trash collection. Meridian Waste will continue to collect small piles — up to two cubic yards — of bagged or bundled yard waste each week on your regular garbage pick-up days.
White goods are refrigerators, washers, dryers and other household appliances or furniture. All items placed for collection must be drained of freon and tagged accordingly. If they are not drained of freon and tagged as such, the item will not be collected.
Construction debris—waste materials from do-it-yourself renovation projects—must be placed in tied contractor-grade bags and set curbside for collection. Each collection is limited to four bags.

Pickup guidelines

This service is for bulk waste generated through routine landscaping or do-it-yourself projects. For residents who hire a contractor or tree service, the vendor must haul away those materials.
Bulk materials may be placed at the curb up to one week before regularly scheduled service.
Bulk materials will be picked up only during your scheduled service week. Once your zone is serviced, the bulk crew will not return to that zone until two weeks later.
Bulk waste materials should be neatly piled at least two feet from utility poles, low-hanging trees, fences, gas and water meters, fire hydrants, mailboxes, sprinkler heads, and any other obstacles preventing collection. Do not block sidewalks or the view of oncoming traffic with your pile of bulk waste materials.
Small bundles of yard waste and bagged leaves will continue to be collected by Meridian Waste rear-load crews each week during your normal trash pickup.
Bulk collections are limited to 8 total yards per resident every other week. That equals an area 8 feet by 9 feet and 3 feet high.

When are bulk materials picked up?

Bulk materials collection is available on alternating weeks, depending on when your garbage is collected.

For the month of December, if your garbage is collected on Mondays and Thursdays, your bulk materials pickup dates are Dec. 2 through 6, Dec. 16 through 20, and Dec. 30 through Jan. 3.

For the month of December, if your garbage is collected on Tuesdays and Fridays, your bulk materials pickup dates are Dec. 9 through 13 and Dec. 23 through 27.

For the month of January, if your garbage is collected on Mondays and Thursdays, your bulk materials pickup dates are Jan. 13 through 17 and Jan. 27 through 31.

For the month of January, if your garbage is collected on Tuesdays and Fridays, your bulk materials pickup dates are Jan. 6 through 10 and Jan. 20 through 24.

Bulk materials pickups will continue on alternating weeks according to this schedule.

While the bulk collection crew may pick up items any day of the designated week per zone, residents must have bulk materials out for pickup by 7 a.m. on Mondays of the designated pick-up week.

If you have any complaints or questions, please call the mayor’s office

“We are very grateful to be contracted with Meridian Waste for our trash collection services. Since adding the bulk materials pickup, everything to our knowledge has been going very well,” Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said.

“We understand that some situations may arise from time to time, and we are happy to help anyone who calls our office. Looking back on our call log for the last several weeks, we don’t show any complaints that have not been attended to. And, in fact, the complaints have been too few to raise any concerns,” he said.

The phone number to the mayor’s office is 601-445-7555.

“We are happy to help anyone. We don’t want our citizens to be inconvenienced, and we certainly don’t want bulk items left on our streets for any length of time,” Gibson said.