CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Clinton Township has agreed to pay more than $1 million in withheld payments to Priority Waste, following months of complaints from residents about late or missed trash pickups.
Back in July, Clinton Township Supervisor Paul Gieleghem said the township was receiving hundreds of complaints a week about delayed trash services. It came after Priority Waste took over trash services from GFL in parts of Macomb County last year.
In response, the township began withholding payment for each missed service, part of a provision of its contract with the company.
“They weren’t agreeing to terms, we were withholding payment and implementing the penalty provisions of the contract to hold them accountable,” Gieleghem said.
Gieleghem said through its contract, Clinton Township can fine Priority Waste $50 in withheld payment per house for any of the three contracted services—garbage, composting, and recycling—that are not completed within 24 hours after receiving notice of a missed service.
Over a four-month period from July to October, those fines quickly added up.
“Sometimes that affected whole neighborhoods, so sometimes those numbers got up there pretty high,” Gieleghem said.
Since then, Gieleghem said complaints have leveled off and service has improved. Over the summer, Priority Waste deployed 50 new trucks across its service area to replace vehicles inherited from GFL.
Earlier this month, the Clinton Township Board of Trustees agreed to pay back those withheld payments at a discounted rate of more than $1.1 million.
“We’ve been paid in full,” said Matt Allen, the director of public relations for Priority Waste. “We’re happy to have been able to come to an agreement with the township to settle this matter.”
“Ultimately, it came down to let’s sit down, let’s have a conversation, let’s figure out how we can work this out, and I think it was a good resolution,” Gieleghem said.
While an agreement has now been reached, Gieleghem said those provisions are still there should the township need to use them again.
“We’re continuing to monitor the situation,” Gieleghem said. “Those penalty provisions are still there; we will implement them, but we believe hopefully things have leveled off.”