By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
An increase in tonnage and a shortage of staff has forced the St. Joseph landfill to cut back on its hours of operation.
The landfill will still be open Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., but will now be open on only one Saturday each month, beginning this weekend.
The Saturday hours of 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. will remain the same. Landfill superintendent Rod McQuerrey says of the 12 operator positions available, only six of those are filled currently.
"It was easier to eliminate the Saturdays, which allowed us to stay somewhat fully staffed during the week and cover that full hour spread," McQuerrey said.
The landfill will be open on Saturday, July 10, but closed over the entire Fourth of July weekend.
McQuerrey said the long hours at the landfill contributed, in part, to the current labor shortfall.
"The guys were getting really burnt out," he said. "They wanted to go somewhere where they could work 40 hours a week instead of 50-60. Some left for opportunities outside of the city."
McQuerrey says he and his staff are preparing for heavier traffic than normal on Saturdays. That one Saturday every month will be staffed on a volunteer basis, and a couple of extra workers will be on hand to help out.
"Saturdays were typically low tonnage, but high volume," said McQuerrey. "A lot of the public come in with their car or pickup to drop off this, that or the other thing rather than trash trucks bringing several things at a time."
McQuerrey said the landfill will run on the one Saturday-per-month schedule through at least August, and staffing will be reevaluated then.
St. Joseph city manager Bryan Carter says the landfill isn't the only area of the city where staff shortages are a problem.
"Our streets department, we're having a lot of difficulty filling a lot of positions down there," said Carter. "We're also having a tough time filling positions in the engineering division and of course the landfill. A particularly difficult one for us is on the law enforcement side. Seeing a difficult time filling law enforcement positions here, but that's happening in a lot of different communities."
The St. Joseph Police Department currently has 11 positions open, according to Police Chief Chris Connally.
Carter says the number of applicants for these jobs has also been lacking. The city is now taking steps to adjust their recruiting process as a result.
"Historically, we've relied heavily on employees coming to us looking for jobs," said Carter. "We're starting to look at opportunities to reach out. We're also placing some more focus on retention, making sure that we don't lose anyone we don't have to lose."
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