Overview

• Houston City Council approved $12.5 million to buy 31 refuse trucks for the Solid Waste department
• Mayor John Whitmire said 11 of the new vehicles will arrive in the next two days
• Newly appointed director Larrius Hassan reported that about 30 trucks are out of service daily and another 20 often break down on routes
• Hassan has called in the city inspector general to investigate suspected credit-card misuse and inadequate fleet tracking within the department
• City officials are reexamining the 2018 single-site recycling contract and seeking additional vendors to expand drop-off locations