ANNA MARIA – Residents and city officials are displeased with the level of trash and recycling collection services being provided by Waste Management.
When addressing city commissioners about various city-related projects and concerns on Jan. 23, Anna Maria General Manager Dean Jones said, “We’re in talks with Waste Management. We want to bring them in for a meet-and-greet with the new administration and set some expectations for them. We expect high levels of customer service and we want to make sure they get that message.”
Mayor Mark Short then said, “We have, over the last several few weeks, received an unusual number of complaints about Waste Management service – stuff not getting picked up for sometimes weeks at a time, or they pick up my trash and not my recycling, or they didn’t get my landscaping. The volume of complaints we have received about Waste Management services has significantly increased over the last several weeks. So, we’re scheduling a meeting with ‘the boss,’ trying to get him out here and have a little conversation about improving the quality of service which has, in our opinion, deteriorated.”
Commissioner Chris Arendt asked if short-term vacation rentals are required to use the side-door trash and recycling service – a service provided at an additional cost which entails Waste Management employees retrieving and returning trash and recycling receptacles to the side of the house.
“That hasn’t been happening,” Arendt said.
After clarifying the side-door service requirement pertains to all non-homesteaded residential properties, and not just vacation rentals, Short said, “You’re right. That’s part of the quality of service. For those, they are to go get it, dump it and take it back. We’ve also seen where they go get them but they’re leaving them out at the street, and in some cases in the street. That’s part of our soon-to-be meeting and conversation. We need to see some improvement in quality of service,” Short said.
Commission Chair Charlie Salem asked when the city’s current exclusive contract with Waste Management expires. Jones said the current contract expires on June 28, 2026: “We have about 18 months.”
Salem noted Waste Management’s quality of service will be considered when it’s time to discuss renewing that contract.
The cities of Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach contract with Waste Pro for their trash and recycling services.
