Saturday, August 29, 2009

SATURDAY AUGUST 29, 2009
12:10 PM

Next week will be a big week in the collection of residential garbage in Wynne. We will fully implement our new automated truck collecting the residential trash in Wynne. This past week we used the new truck, but we sent a crew ahead of the truck and properly placed the carts on the street for collection. If the carts were not placed on the street properly the crew left a note informing the resident that beginning next week if the cart was not properly placed on the street it would not be dumped. This has all been explained in a newspaper type flyer placed on all carts a few weeks ago. I know that there will be some problems, but I think once the residents fully cooperate this system will work very well.

Beginning Monday if the carts are not placed on the street properly it will not be emptied. If the cart is not on the street when the truck goes by the crew will not return later and dump the cart. When the truck is making its rounds, a record will be kept of the location of the carts that are not placed properly and the location and time of households that do not have a cart placed on the street. The day of pickup day has not been changed, but because of the route the truck must operate the time will change for a number of residents. The instructions have been that the cart must be on the street by 7:00 AM.

The new knuckle boom truck operating full time and the old one operating part time has made it possible for the sanitation department to keep up with the volume of trash placed on the street. I hope that using this new system allows us to stay up with the trash placed on the street. If our costs increase very much we will not be able to provide this service for the present rates. The one cost that will probably determine this is the price of fuel. If fuel cost remains at the present level and the tipping fee remains about the same we can continue to offer this service for the present fees collected.

I have started work on the budgets for the city for 2010. I have prepared a memo for the city council members asking for their input. I hope that they will respond to my request if they would like to see changes in our budgets.

This week has been very comfortable. The temperatue has been lower for the past several days. I have enjoyed the cooler temps.

Pat is making good progress recovering from her broken leg. I hope she continues to make improvements and gets back to full strength and use of her leg.


Theda has been very busy putting information on the new web site for the city. We have made all of the changes to the layout of the home screen. From now own we can continue to add information as needed. I think that the public will be pleased with the web site. It should go live for the public next week. I will inform readers of this blog when it is available and the address for website when it is completed.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26, 2009
12:55 PM

The city is now using one knuckle boom truck full time and we are using another one when the driver is free from other duties to remove class three trash from the residents homes in Wynne. This new system seems to be working well. I hope that using this system allows us to stay up with the volume of trash that is being place on the streets.

The city started operating our new residential garbage truck on Monday. We are sending a crew in front of the truck and making sure that the carts are placed on the street properly. If the carts are not properly on the street this crew is placing them on the street in a position so that the can will be properly emptied. They are also placing a note on the can informing the resident that this is the only time this service will be provided. Beginning with their next trash day if the can in not properly placed on the street it will not be emptied. We had not planned to put the new truck in to operation until next Monday, but we thought that we would give the residents one more chance to comply with the new regulations and if they were not in compliance, we would leave them a note. The new truck is working well.

Amy accepted a job yesterday. She is excited about returning to work in the funeral industry. She will be able to live in her home and not have to move to work for this funeral home. Please keep Amy in your prayers as she begins a new chapter in her life. Also thank you for your concern for her during this most difficult time in her life.

Pat went back to the doctor on Monday. He told us that she was making good progress and that if progress continues, she will be able to return to work in a month. Thank you for your concerns, food, calls and prayers during this time accident and recovery for Pat.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

SUNDAY AUGUST 23, 2009
4:05 PM


I have not written in several days. I will try to catch up on what has been going on.

The city has received its new residential garbage truck. The drivers met with an individual who has developed the most efficient routes for the truck. Basically the truck only makes right turns. The drivers have had two days to practice using this new truck and system. They and Jerry feel like that they have had enough practice. Because of this the new system of removing garbage will be implemented starting tomorrow morning.

The city crews have delivered a press release about the new system to every residential customer. Starting next week if the carts are not placed on the street in the correct way they will not be emptied. I know that we will have some calls, but we think that the residents have have proper notification. We will soon find out.

We have taken delivery of a rental knuckle boom truck. Our own truck should be here in a couple of weeks. I hope that operating one truck full time and another one on a part time
basis we will be able to stay up with the class three trash. If we cannot we will have to go to plan B.

My neighbor for the last 30 + years has passed away. Her funeral is tomorrow morning. I will not be able to attend, because I have to take Pat to the doctor for a checkup. Pat is improving daily. I hope that in a few more days she will be back to full strength.

The new website for the city has been developed. At the present time Theda is putting the information on the website. In two weeks the website will be available for anyone to view. We will not have all of the information in that time frame, but we can make changes and additions each day if necessary. I am impressed with what has been developed and the information that has been placed on the website so far. I will give the web address when it goes on line. At the present time the only people who have access are Theda and myself.

The summer sealing process for the city has been completed. This year we were able to seal 13 streets. Sealing does not look as good as hot mix, but it cost 1/5 per square foot to apply. If we had placed hot mix on the streets we could only have overlaid 3 or fewer streets. The sealing will increase the life of the streets but will not last as long as hot mix.

Amy has an appointment with a funeral home on Tuesday morning. We think that they will offer her a job. In fact about the only thing that has to be worked out are the duties and the pay she will receive for her work. I hope and pray that she and the funeral home can come to an acceptable agreement. She is ready to go back to the funeral business.

Friday, August 14, 2009

FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 2009
11:10 AM

There has been a small problem with the knuckle boom truck that the city bought on Tuesday night. The truck that we had purchased does not meet our specs. It was the company's fault and they have agreed to have a demonstrator truck here on Sunday for us to use until the truck we bought can be delivered. The truck we bought should be here within two weeks. The company will not charge us for the use of their demonstrator.

Our new residential truck in in Little Rock. The truck will be delivered to the Mack dealer in Jonesobro on Monday. They have to fully check out the truck. That should take at the most two days. They should deliver it to us the latter part of next week.

We have received the information sheets about residential trash and they have been placed in plastic bags. We plan to distribute them starting next Monday. We will keep our old truck for a few days. During that time we plan to have our drivers become familiar with the new truck before we release our old truck.

I know that there will be some problems as we implement this new way of dumping the cans, but after a few days I expect it to go smooth.

Monday we have an individual coming to make routes for the new truck. The day of pickup will not change, but the time of the dumping will change. I anticipate a number of calls during the first few days of operation.

I took Pat to her heart doctor in Memphis for her annual check up. She got an excellent report. In fact the doctor told her that she did not need to come back for two years.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12, 2009
10:15 AM

The Wynne City Council met for their regular monthly meeting last night. Following is a brief description of the actions.

1. Heard a report from VDCI about their efforts the past month. It was a difficult month
because of so much rain.

2. Andy Boone made a presentation about changes that need to be made in the Wynne
Parks and Recreation program. He discussed a number of items that need to be addressed.
There was also good interaction with Mr. Boone and members of the city council as well as
several of the members of the audience. He presented the City of Wynne budget and the
amount of money spent on parks and recreation. He also presented the same information
from several cities around Wynne. The total budget for the City of Wynne and our parks
budget is much smaller than any of the cities he presented. He also pointed out that Wynne
was the only city on the list that does not have a city sales tax.

After much discussion the audience and the council agreed to form a committee and present
a plan for improvement to the city parks. They plan to ask the citizens for a sales tax increase to pay for the improvements and also to better keep up with the routine care
of the parks and make capital improvments.

3. Passed an ordinance abandoning an alley.

4. Passed an ordinance to correct a mistake in an ordinance relating to jail fees that was passed
last month.

5. They discussed and ordinance dealing with wellhead protection for the city water wells.
They decided not to take action on that ordinance, because the manage of the water
utilities was unable to attend the meeting and they wanted to ask some questions before
they adopted the ordinance.

6. There was also a discussion of the class three trash problem in Wynne. They voted to
purchase a new knuckle boom truck and keep the present truck. The sanitation
will operate the old truck part time in an effort to keep the class three trash removed
on schedule from the streets of Wynne.

Monday, August 10, 2009

MONDAY AUGUST 10, 2009
3:45 PM

I am back at work, in fact I have been back for about an hour.

The appointment went well with the doctor. He said that Pat was doing fine. He told her that she could start putting weight on her broken leg. He said about 50% of her weight. He prescribed physical therapy for her. She is to have PT three times a week for two weeks and then return to him for another visit and evaluation. He thinks that she will probably be off work at least one more month.
MONDAY AUGUST 10, 2009
9:15 AM

I was mistaken about Pat's doctors appointments. She only has one today. We have to go to her Orthopedic surgeon today. She has to go to her heart doctor on Thursday. I had though that both were today.

I am at the office today for a while I wait to go to Memphis.

The information for our citizens has been printed and shipped. It is scheduled to arrive today. We plan to start putting them out. Once they have all been distributed, we will implement the rules for placing the cart on the street. There will be some confusion, but the citizens must be trained or the new truck will not be able to dump the carts.

The city council will meet tomorrow night. We have a long agenda. There are a group of citizens who have asked to address the council about the city ball fields. Sometimes these group forget that the parks are operated by a commission, and they are responsible for all of the parks in the city, not just the ball fields. Sometimes the citizens do not understand the money that it takes to operate the city parks.

Friday, August 7, 2009

FRIDAY AUGUST 7, 2009
10:30 AM

I have been very busy dealing with a variety of city projects and problems this week. The August meeting of the city council is next Tuesday. We have a full agenda. I will make a report after the meeting.

I have scheduled two meetings before the council meets on Tuesday. The solid waste committee will meet and discuss our class four trash service. We must make some changes. The personnel committee will also meet. They need to make a decision about one of the pension plans.

I have talked with the printer of our information about the changes that will take place in the next few weeks. They should be here in a few days. We will distribute them to every household at least two weeks before we implement changes. The new truck will be delivered next week or at the latest in two weeks. The truck is in Little Rock. The bed supplier has to install some cameras and then the truck has to go to Jonesboro for a final check from Mack. I know that we will have some problems with the changes, but I am excited about the new system of removing class one trash.

Monday I will take Pat back to the doctor for a check up. I hope everything goes well and she can get back to a normal life. Please keep us in your prayers.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 2009
2:00 PM

I purchased two new time clocks in January for use in the Dept. of Public Works and the Police dept. I did this because of some US Dept of Labor and EEOC investigations. I purchased time clocks that operate using a computer and uses the employee fingerprint to record time. This system will make it easier for these departments to keep up with the time of employees.

Our IT person installed the new time clocks and they would not run. They would shut off without any warning. The IT person contacted the clock company and were told that he would have to buy a certain kind of connector from them for the clocks to work properly. He ordered the connections and they still have not been received. I have been frustrated and made several calls checking on the status of the connectors. I was told every time that the connectors were on back order and there was only one supplier. I became frustrated yesterday and called the time clock company and explained the problem. They said that they had plenty of connectors. I called the IT persons and relayed the information. A representative of the IT company had canceled the order without the owners permission. We discovered this yesterday. That employee was fired for other reasons three months ago from the IT company. The owner ordered the connectors yesterday and they should be here next week. He said that it was his fault and that he would do the work and pay for the connectors at no charge to the city. I hope, by this time, next week to have the new system operational.
TUESDAY AUGUST 4, 2009
11:00 AM

The city plans to implement the new residential garbage service about September 1, 2009. The truck has been completed. We could take delivery at almost anytime. Before we take delivery the city plans to distribute the rules regarding the placement and proper alignment of the can on the street. We plan to do this at least two weeks before we start using the new truck.

The plans are if the carts are not placed properly, the can will not be emptied. I know this will cause citizens to call the sanitation department. We know this and are prepared to deal with the calls. The calls will give us an opportunity to tell the citizens how the cart must be placed on the street. The local radio station has already interviewed me about this change, but there are a number of residents that do not listen to the local station or read the local paper.

The company that we purchased the truck body from will be here to develop routes for this new truck. The days will not change, but the time of day the cart is emptied will change. This will be implemented to most efficiently use the new truck. I also know that this small change will cause a number of calls. Citizens are used to having the truck come by about the same time each week. The time the cart is emptied will change, but not the day. Our instructions are the cart must be on the street by 7:00 AM of the day of pickup. The rules also state that the cart should be removed from the street by 6:00 PM on trash day. I think that the new system will be more efficient that the old system and we will not have employees on the back of a truck in all kinds of weather.

Last week I sent the city council members a memo about class three trash removal. The city cannot remove the amount of trash that is placed on the street on a consistent basis. We are going to have to make some changes or continue to deal with angry citizens who are calling the sanitation department. I presented the council members with some possible solutions and also asked for their input. They may have a much better solution than me. I have only heard from two members as I write this blog. I hope that we can reach a solution to this problem and solve it at the next council meeting.