Myrtle Beach crew is ALERT for messes

Have you ever seen something on the side of the road and thought, “I wish someone would pick that up?”

Well in Myrtle Beach, you don’t have to wish, because there’s a two man crew that stays alert and ready to pick up just about anything.

David Weaver and Jeffrey Hollister are the two man ALERT (After-hours Litter and Emergency Response Team) crew.

The two full-time employees patrol for litter and other problems in Myrtle Beach.

They respond to special requests and emergencies from other departments, businesses and the public.

News13 caught up with Hollister on a busy Wednesday night, not far from Ocean Boulevard, “I’ve had three police calls, five water department calls, a couple solid waste calls and they just have me running all over the city, turning people’s water on, there was a strange odor downtown on Ocean Boulevard, so we got the sewer truck out for that.“ Hollister said.

The ALERT crew responds seven days a week from 4 p.m. to midnight. 

Hollister said the people he comes in contact with are positive and he spreads the word about the service he and Weaver provide.  He said one of the most amazing things he’s seen is when sea turtles come up on the beach and they don’t make it all the way on the up into the sea grass, the ALERT crew will cone off their nests and as a bonus, they get to see an endangered species re-populate, Hollister said it’s a beautiful thing.

But not everything the ALERT crew sees is beautiful, Hollister said he’s cleaned up some messes you probably wouldn’t believe.  “I had a deer that was caught in the fence one time that I pulled out and we do everything from road kill to blocking off crime scenes, I mean we never know when we come to work what we’re going to be called out to do.”  Hollister said.

The ALERT crew has been part of the Solid Waste Division since 2003 and public information officer Mark Kruea said city had to expand the Solid Waste Division’s budget a little bit to include ALERT.  “We do save money by not having to call-back other staff to handle things, but the ALERT team does cost extra for the higher level of service.”  Kruea said in a statement to News13.

Hollister said the positives of his job far outweigh the negatives and he gives them credit for putting up with his night and weekend hours.