- November 23, 2024
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Palm Coast may fine Waste Pro for collecting residents’ recycling bins as the company wraps up its final contract week. Waste Pro faces charges of up to $125 per removed bin and has removed almost 6,000 bins, according to the city government.
City Attorney Neysa Borkert said that as far as the city is concerned, those bins belong to the residents. Removing them violates city code and a section of Palm Coast’s contract with Waste Pro, she said.
After Waste Pro’s contract ends and the city has a total tally of bins removed, Borkert said, city staff will meet to review the data and decide how to proceed.
“But I think it’s safe to say the city will pursue enforcement against Waste Pro for doing this,” she said. “I think that’s absolutely what will happen.”
Borkert said the code violation is a $50 fine per bin, while the contract violation has administrative charges of $125 per bin removed. The city can write a civil citation for the code violation or write up the administrative charges, Borkert said, but cannot do both per bin. If the city levied fines of $50 each for 6,000 missing bins, the fines would total $300,000; if the city charged $125 per missing bin for 6,000 bins, the fines would total $750,000. The city will decide later how many bins are handled as code violations versus as contract violations.
Waste Pro was Palm Coast’s contracted waste collector for 17 years, but in July 2022, the city accepted a bid from FCC Environmental Services instead. The contract with FCC begins on June 1.
Waste Pro began collecting the Waste Pro-branded recycling bins on May 25, according to an emailed statement from Joy Kurtz, Waste Pro’s corporate communications manager.
Kurtz wrote that Waste Pro thoroughly communicated its transition plans, including its intent to remove Waste Pro’s equipment, to the city.
The Waste Pro-Palm Coast contract doesn’t clearly state what happens to the bins when the contract ends, said Brittany Kershaw, Palm Coast’s director of communications and marketing.
The contract with Waste Pro defines a plastic recycle container as “any container purchased and distributed by or on behalf of city residents by the contractor for the intended use as a receptacle of recyclable items.”
Borkert said the city’s position is that because the definition of a recycling bin in the contract says “purchased on behalf” of city residents, the bins belong to city residents.
But Kurtz wrote that the recycling bins are considered Waste Pro’s equipment because the bins, like Waste Pro’s trucks, were bought by Waste Pro for services in the city.
“It is incredible that any other belief is possible,” Kurtz wrote. “This is America and not a socialist autocracy that staff or elected officials may wish.”
Kurtz wrote that Waste Pro did offer to let city staff buy the existing recycling bins at discounted rates.
“It is perplexing that the city did not take any steps to purchase the existing bins or secure new bins, as the recycling bins are Waste Pro’s property,” Kurtz wrote.
The Waste Pro-Palm Coast contract allotted two recycling bins per household, with an option for residents to buy additional bins, Kershaw said. Kurtz did not answer a question about whether additional bins bought by individual Palm Coast residents were also being collected.
Kershaw said that even before Waste Pro began collecting recycling bins, the company had not provided new or replacement bins to over 150 residents.
Kershaw said the city is working with FCC to order new recycling bins as soon as possible. FCC has a small supply of bins already, Kershaw said, and will be distributing them after the company’s contract begins on June 1.
“But now it looks like we are going to potentially have tens of thousands of people who need recycling bins,” Kershaw said.
Borkert said residents will not have to worry about the issue happening again with FCC: That contract clearly states that the bins are owned by the city, she said.
Kershaw said Public Works is keeping track of how many residents’ bins have been collected. Residents whose bins have been collected by Waste Pro should submit a case through Palm Coast Connect at palmcoast.gov/connect.
The case submissions will let staff track who needs a new recycling bin and how many bins have been collected, Kershaw said.
In the meantime, Kershaw said, residents should use a temporary container of their own until replacements arrive.
Anything from a plastic tub to a cardboard box would work, Kershaw said: Residents just need to clearly label the container “Recycle” for the collection teams.
Residents with questions can call the city’s customer service line at 386-986-2360 or email [email protected].
