Local News

Need to rent a truck in the meantime

Photos

JOE SEELIG
Published: November 9, 2012

SEBRING While the Sebring City Council has talked about trashing the city's solid waste collection system in favor of privatizing it, new equipment orders have been put on hold.

The city will be seeking proposals for professional solid waste collection and disposal services for residential, commercial and recycling.

This led to a request by Public Works Director Ken Fields for the rental of a rear-loader truck at $6,000 per month, approved Tuesday, 4-0 without further discussion by the city council.

Councilman Bud Whitlock was absent from the meeting.

The city's one existing rear-load truck is having transmission troubles, Fields told the council on Tuesday.

With that in mind, Fields requested the rear-loader trash truck rental for three months.

"We have 69 rear-load dumpsters," he said Thursday. "If that (truck) goes we wouldn't be able to pick those up... It would have to go to Bartow to be repaired. That could take four days... If it is cost-effective the city will fix it."

That would be unacceptable for the customers and would create a real problem emptying them for the city's solid waste workers, he said.

The city had budgeted to replace the rear-load dumpsters but was holding off spending the $35,000 to $45,000 – possibly more until it gets the proposals back.

"They don't want to spend on dumpsters they won't own anymore," he said.

Another issue is the city's yard trash trucks which are frequently breaking down.

"The yard trash trucks are beyond their useful lives," Fields said. "We've got one breaking down every other week if not every week."

These trucks also have been budgeted and cost about $125,000 to $150,000 each.

The city owns a total of seven trash trucks, he said.

Councilman John Griffin asked during Tuesday's meeting if it was the rear loader truck that was broken down on U.S. 27 recently.

"That was the front-loader," Fields replied.

"Is that running again?" Griffin asked.

"It is now running, but also needs extensive work," Fields said.

Several months ago, the council appointed a Solid Waste RFP (request for proposals) Committee to develop an RFP for solid waste services, to evaluate the responses when they come in and to make a recommendation to the council.

"From my perspective it's 99.9 percent finished," Fields said, adding the committee would look at it one more time. "After that we're looking at about a three-month process."

The Draft RFP is going before the city council on Nov. 20, said City Administrator Scott Noethlich on Thursday.

So what happens to the city's equipment if it awards a contract to an outside vendor?

"Several months ago, the council appointed a Solid Waste RFP (request for proposals) Committee to develop an RFP for solid waste services, to evaluate the responses when they come in and to make a recommendation to the council.

"From my perspective it's 99.9 percent finished," Fields said, adding the committee would look at it one more time. "After that we're looking at about a three month process."

The Draft RFP is going before the city council on Nov. 20, said City Administrator Scott Noethlich on Thursday.

"There will be an option for them to obtain the equipment if they are interested in it," he said. "If we don't end up contracting somebody and stay in the business we'll be replacing those yard-trash trucks (as well as the dumpsters)."

There is no language in the RFP for any hauler to hire the city employees who would be affected by a trash-hauling contract, Noethlich said.

However, there is a real benefit and value to any contractor that comes with hiring them back on, he said.

"Our employees will come with knowledge of the system," he said.

Pay and benefits is not something the city can predict, he added.

"There is obviously a concern about employees who reside in the county, that they have jobs," he said. "I think the county did something similar with Choice when it put out its RFQ (request for quotes)."

The city currently has about 5,400 single family households units and approximately 268 active commercial businesses on dumpster service, 420 small businesses on commercial can service, and 48 multiunit customers on mixed service.

jseelig@highlandstoday.com

(863) 386-5834