Garbage collection in the city of Lumberton – or lack thereof – was the center of discussion for elected city leaders during their April 28 meeting, addressing frustrations and concerns customers of Live Oak Environmental LLC are reporting regarding scheduled trash pickup times long since missed. Lumberton City Council, in a unanimous vote, issued a formal notice to Live Oak Environmental, giving the company 30 days to resolve any issues and for immediate compliance with the terms of their contract or the contract will be terminated.
Some council members said they were expecting more residents, rather than the handful who attended the meeting. The audience consisted of approximately 15 people, including six media people and three from Live Oak.
During public comments, Live Oak Environmental Vice President Dwight Robinson said he didn’t attend the meeting to defend what happened a couple of weeks ago, but to focus on moving forward to fix the problem.
“I’m going to be here every day until it is caught up because it isn’t right,” he said. “We got behind and there are no excuses.”
Robinson said the company brought in extra trucks and a third-party vendor to interview potential new hires.
City Attorney Curtis Soileau said the city’s contract with Live Oak provides that, if the city is dissatisfied with service, the company should be allowed a 30-day written notice to cure any issues.
Councilmember Dan Bell, who made the motion for the 30-day notice, said councilmembers are getting calls from citizens of Lumberton, who “deserve better than what they’ve dealt with.” Bell also noted that, when Live Oak took over for Pineywoods, the company would keep the same employees and there would be two employees on the ground.
“That’s not the case because they’re using a one-armed bandit,” remarked Bell.
Councilmember David Maniscalco, seconding Bell’s motion to get the 30-day notice rolling, said he would vote to cancel the contract and vote for another garbage collection service immediately if he could.
“There’s always an excuse,” Maniscalco said, addressing alleged company problems of staffing and retention. Live Oak, he added, has “had time” to fix the issue.
Councilmember Kenneth Wahl said the issues with Live Oak did not start two weeks ago but when Live Oak picked up the contract from Pineywoods. In May 2023, Live Oak Environmental LLC acquired Piney Woods Sanitation Inc. of Silsbee.
“It hasn’t been to this degree and, although the citizens didn’t like it, we weathered it with some billing issues,” Wahl said. “This hit us, and it snowballed. At that point, we’ve lost all confidence. What’s going to happen tomorrow?”
Concerning the 30-day notice, Wahl asked the city attorney if Live Oak corrects the problems and next year the same issue occurs, will the city give them another 30-day notice.
“No,” Soileau said. “This is not a 30-day correction. We’re not going to play a game like this.
“If the city council is inclined to give a 30-day notice, we expect those matters to be addressed and to not reoccur in the future.”
“We’re not going to give additional 30-day notices,” he explained. “The next time, it will be a termination letter … if these matters are not corrected. And, if it involves litigation, it involves litigation.”
Mayor Pro Tem Joey Schoen said he drove through a large neighborhood off Old Silsbee Highway and the whole neighborhood “stunk and was awful.”
“I was told they couldn’t get their trucks and they can’t pass a drug test,” Schoen said of Live Oak’s alleged problems with onboarding. “That’s just the cost of doing business. You have to have a Plan B.”
Two representatives of Frontier Waste Solution, a rival sanitation provider, were also at the meeting. During public comments, Terry Wood, municipal marketing representative for Frontier, stated Frontier is arriving in the Beaumont area after a year of discussions. She said the company was started in 2017 and boasts more than 200 years of administration experience.
“Our goal is to help clean up every city in Texas,” Wood added.
According to Nick Rizzotto, Frontier operations supervisor, the company services Hamshire, Fannett, Mauriceville, Orangefield and Vidor.
For now, Live Oak representatives assure that the company is attempting to fix the issues and get back on the right track.
“Trust me, we’re going to hold you to it,” Bell advised. “I will be very vocal if it’s not.”