Okaloosa County BOCC — January 8, 2013 — Action Item Printout — reading text

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: February 19, 2013 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: John Hofstad SUBJECT: Waste Flow Control Options DEPARTMENT: Public Works BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Subsequent to successful contract negotiations with Waste Management (WMI) in 2010, Public Works staff and its consultant, Kessler Consulting Inc (KCI), outlined a strategy to position the County for the future with respect to management of the flow of waste generated within the unincorporated areas of Okaloosa County. BACKGROUND: The 2010 contract provided the following positive benefits to the County and its residents: -Reduced collection and disposal fees -Added floor rate on recyclables as a revenue stream -Removed plastic yard trash bags at the curb -Added electronics, treated lumber, tires as items for collection at curb as "Bulk" -Modified multi-family rates from dwelling based rates to cubic yard based -Added provisions for multi-family recycling at half the rate of garbage service In April 2011, KCI conducted a waste flow analysis identifying various mechanisms that Okaloosa County could use in better positioning itself to control the flow of waste generated within its jurisdiction. Among those options was establishing a commercial franchise which has the potential to add another 26% of the waste stream to the total waste under the county's control. Currently, the residential franchise accounts for about 28% of the waste delivered to the County’s transfer stations. With the addition of commercial waste, the county would have control over about 54% of the waste stream plus a potential 13% from self-haul and non- franchise residential (see FY 2012 County Waste Flow attached). Presently, commercial waste is an open market service and can be delivered to any permitted facility. The advantage of the franchise is that the county through its purchasing power can secure competitive rates for commercial dumpster service that provides consistency and uniformity throughout the franchise areas while directing the flow of the waste to a county approved facility from which the county derives economic benefit via tip fees. In order to franchise commercial collection a three year notice to haulers potentially affected by this decision is required by law (see timeline attached). In addition, arguments both for and against a commercial franchise must be heard during a duly noticed public hearing of the Board of County Commissioners. To ensure sufficient time for notifications and gathering public input, staff suggests scheduling the public hearing for April 16, 2013 in Fort Walton Beach. Given recent Board action to defer implementation of enhanced recycling (1-1-1) until the expiration of the existing contract, staff proposes to combine the advertisement of residential (including 1-1-1 or a comparable alternative to enhance recycling) and commercial collection and disposal services in one bid announcement to be awarded such that the implementation occurs after termination of the existing contract, March 2016. In the interim, the Board will need to take action to either: extend enhanced recycling services to the two pilot areas through the current term of the contract, or terminate enhanced recycling services in these two areas and revert to the previous 18-gallon bin curb-side service as specified in the current collection contract. Since WMI initially supplied the 96-gallon carts that were provided during the pilot program, compensation for the cans may be requested in order to continue the enhanced recycling service in these areas. Representatives from WMI will be in attendance to field questions from the Board related to this issue. OPTIONS: Approve/Disapprove RECOMMENDATIONS: Request that the Board authorize staff to begin the process of advertising its intent to franchise commercial collection and disposal service in 2016; and further authorization to schedule a public hearing to address same during the April 16, 2013 meeting of the Board of County Commissioners. At the appropriate time, staff will return to the Board with draft bid specifications for waste and recycling collection and disposal services for review prior to expiration of the current contract. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: James D. Curry, County Administrator