Garbage pickup, the HOA & our county commission

In good faith, the Bay Creek HOA negotiated special pricing for our homeowners with Quality Garbage Service. Those rates were due to go into effect January 1. Many homeowners, whose garbage pickup service contracts ran out on Dec. 31, dropped their carriers in anticipation of the new lower fees and service offered by Quality.

Unfortunately, Quality has reniged on that discount. In an email to Joey Iiams, who headed up the garbage study committee, Quality broke their committment to our HOA. They broke their committment to our homeowners. But most importantly, they are not honoring the deal the HOA made with them.

In fact, they have increased their rates and asking homeowners to pay up front for a year of service. Our only recourse to hold them to the deal they gave us is to sue them, but that is not an expense nor an effort that the board wants to undertake.

A lot of garbage about garbage
The Gwinnett County Commission voted Wednesday to unify garbage pickup service throughout Gwinnett and provide recycling service as mandated by state law. The new plan goes into effect January 2009. To see how and why the commissioners voted the way they did, watch the December 12, 2007 hearing online (Scroll down to case 2007-1852 and click on the title.)

According to District 3 Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, the vote was three years in the making with a lot of research going into the decision. Too many yards in Gwinnett, he told this blog, are 'trashed' by renters or others who turn their yards and homes into personal trash dumps, ruining neighborhoods. The new ordinance can prevent that from happening.

Also, a lot of misinformation about the decision and the impact it will have on Gwinnettians is being disseminated all our area. To get to the key issues, this blog has asked Commissioner Beaudreau to help clarify the Countywide Garbage vote and debunk the myths and inaccuracies circulating.

Look for a blog soon with Commissoner Beaudreau's comments and overview of the facts behind this garbage issue.