Drivers who aren’t familiar with Kewanee’s geography.

Drivers quitting, requiring that new people be hired and trained.

Equipment breakdowns.

Residents who don’t place their trash and recycling carts where drivers expect to find them.

Those are some of the problems LRS officials listed at Monday’s City Council meeting.

LRS took over picking up trash, recycling and bundled brush last September. While an online survey by The Kewanee Voice last year showed that a majority of respondents were happy or very happy with the service, there were 35 percent who weren’t.

There have been complaints from residents about being missed by the garbage or recycling truck, trash being scattered along parking strips and pickups not being made at the same time every day.

Last week, Mayor Gary Moore invited Kewaneeans to attend Monday’s council meeting to voice their complaints and get answers from the LRS people who are in charge of the service in Kewanee. Around 15 residents took him up on his offer.

“I know there have been some hurt feelings over some of the issues” with the pickup, Moore said in introducing three LRS officials who were at the meeting.

One of those officials was Joey Scott, who has been LRS’s general manager in charge of the Kewanee operation for the past six weeks.

Scott acknowledged that Kewaneeans had generally been very satisfied with the garbage and recycling pickup service provided by city employees before LRS took over. He said he is striving to attain that level of satisfaction among Kewaneeans for the LRS service.

The issues for LRS have fallen into several categories:

— A few weeks ago, several drivers quit, so new personnel had to be hired and trained. Since it takes weeks for a driver to become familiar with all of the pickup routes, people’s trash pickup suffered.

— It has taken a while for drivers to get familiar with “all the nuances of the city of Kewanee” — such as dead-end streets, where it seems there have been a number of problems with residents’ pickup being missed.

— Residents putting their carts out someplace other than on the street where their address is.

Scott said LRS is making a concerted effort to hire and train reliable drivers, but it will take time.

“We’re still looking for that perfect driver or drivers,” he said. “We are a union facility and we are paying union wages.”

Scott said LRS is sending supervisory people to Kewanee at least once a week to speak with city officials about problems reported with their service.

Councilman Chris Colomer, who was one of two council members who voted against hiring LRS last March, spoke at length about having to adjust to inconsistent pickup times. Colomer said when the city did the job, he could rely on his refuse being picked up by 6:30 a.m. LRS isn’t picking up at the same time every week, he said.

“You should have jumped through hoops” to get the pickup running right, Colomer said.

Scott said residents should have their carts at the curb the night before their pickup day, as pickup begins at 5:30 a.m. LRS has until 7 p.m. to get the day’s route covered.

“For now,” Scott said, “pickup times will fluctuate.”

Councilman Mike Komnick asked what is the biggest complaint LRS receives from Kewaneeans, and Scott replied that it was missing residents on the days their pickup is scheduled.

Kevin Duffy, a regional vice president for LRS, said nothing less than a “Chick Fil-A” level of service is acceptable, and the company will strive to provide it.

He also responded to a complaint that drivers sometimes mix trash and recyclables in the same pickup. That’s totally unacceptable, Duffy said.

However, a driver may spot something in a recycling bin that can’t be recycled, and not empty that cart.

Kewaneeans can call 309-586-4410 to report any problems with pickup to LRS. Several residents at the meeting said the ladies who answer that phone are very helpful and do what they can to get problems resolved.