News & Events
Sprint Waste Services spruces up Four Corners neighborhood By Dori Wind
During earth month, April 2009, just as it has for the past several years, Sprint Waste Services in Richmond, teamed up with the First Colony Church of Christ and residents of the Four Corners area to spruce up their neighborhood. Will Swinbank, President of Sprint Waste, explained that the company provided dumpsters, 3 trucks, 15 employees, numerous boxes, and free landfill disposal for the one day clean-up. Items disposed of during the clean-up included tires, furniture, appliances, trees and yard refuse. Dr. Steve Harris, a member of the First Colony Church of Christ served as the project coordinator and explained that “the Sprint Companies are dedicated to helping the Four Corners area much more than just one day a year. Sprint has actually assisted their neighbors in the Four Corners area over the past three decades with many important projects,” said Harris. More than 30 years ago, Don Poarch and Joe Swinbank began operating the Sprint landfill, located off Highway 6, for a group of developers. At that time, the company was located in Fort Bend County Commissioner Precinct 3 Andy Meyers’ district. However, a redistricting of the county subsequently put the property in Precinct 4. Pct. 4 Fort Bend County Commissioner James Patterson recalled, “in the 70s the area was a sandpit that was fast becoming a dump, and then Don Poarch and Joe Swinbank came in and changed things.” Poarch explained that he and Swinbank decided to buy the property in the 90s. As owners in the area, Poarch said he and Swinbank knew that they wanted to be good neighbors and help the community. Rufus Green, a retired Sugar Land police officer, and resident of Four Corners, extolled the numerous projects completed by the company. Green explained that he first became affiliated with Sprint in 1986 when he needed some help with a sewer system. Sprint donated the funds to hook-up water and sewage services for the local residents. Green continued that after his retirement he went to work with Sprint, and “intends to continue working there as long as they will have me.” Green related stories of how Sprint built a baseball field and park for the children of Four Corners, and the children, in turn, helped the company to keep an eye on the landfill and prevent crimes in the area. If the children saw anyone illegally dumping in the landfill or trespassing on the property, they would promptly report such transgressions to Green. To create the ball field, otherwise useless swampy land had to be cleared of brush and trees and then filled in with topsoil. Sprint cleared the land, put the refuse in its landfill and then supplied the topsoil. A visit to the area in the early evening found children happily enjoying their park. But you can’t have a park without a community center. So, when the County was approached to add a center, they talked with the YMCA who was working on another project, and then with Sprint who couldn’t say no. Sprint assisted in making sure the Four Corners area had a community center “better than the one in Eldridge Park,” said Commissioner Patterson, who referred to Sprint as “a very involved responsible corporate citizen.” Bouche Mickey, member of the Sugar Land Rotary club, board member of the Fort Bend Family YMCA and former Ft. Bend County Director for Texas Co-Op Extension noted that he has great plans for the community center. He envisioned academic, family and parenting programs going on there. He stated that the neighborhood amenities provided by Sprint with assistance from others, including the George Foundation, the county and the YMCA, will translate into “reduced arrests, ticketing and drug trafficking in the vicinity and an increase in college bound students from the area. This is as fine a success story you will ever find in a county in Texas. It is a story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. When you look at the 15-acre site and you see these kids playing on the turf, you get a natural high,” he observed. According to Green, after the park came badly needed street lights to illuminate the Four Corners area. Sprint not only purchased and installed the necessary street lights, but also pays the electric bills. Commissioner Patterson continued the accolades about Sprint, stating that the entity had also donated land to create needed roads in the community, and most recently, “the company, the Dulles High School Peer Assistance Leadership (PAL) and former Sugar Land Mayor Lee Duggan joined forces with a group called Hearts & Hammers to build a new home for a family in the area.” In addition to its charitable activities in the community, Sprint executive Reagan Swinbank, proudly self-proclaimed “that the Sprint landfill is the cleanest one in the State of Texas.” A visit to the attractive landfill affirms Swinbank’s claim. Flowers bloom at the entrance in front of neat office buildings, and the actual dumping area appears to be a symmetrical gray mountain rising in an area set far away from the community. The company employs the latest technology and best practices in the industry. They haul trash in roll off boxes as well as front load dumpsters for industrial and commercial customers. Will Swinbank is a graduate of Texas A&M University and holds Class A, B, C and D Solid Waste licenses. Will and Reagan Swinbank, the third generation of their family to work in the waste management business, reminisced on starting from the bottom, growing up in the family business, and working on the many Four Corners projects. For more information on the Sprint Companies, visit their website at www.sprintcos.com or drive by the site located on 16011 Boss-Gaston Road in Richmond. For information on projects in the Four Corners area contact Dr. Steve Harris at Sugar Land Health Center, www.sugarlandhealthcenter.com or contact Charlie Myer with the YMCA at 281.499.9622. 
