Issues in Islamorada surrounding garbage pickup have grown through the years, between missed pickups and frequent truck breakdowns. Village officials’ patience has grown thin over the continued problems, but they could be solved rather soon with terms in place between the village’s current service company and a competitor looking to acquire them.
Waste Management Inc. and Advanced Disposal Services recently announced that an agreement is in place under which a subsidiary of Waste Management will acquire all outstanding shares of Advanced Disposal, which the village currently has a contract with. It represents a total enterprise value of $4.6 billion when adding approximately $1.8 billion of Advanced Disposal’s debt.
Advance Disposal provides trash, recycling and yard waste collection and disposal services for all residential and commercial properties in Islamorada through a contract with the village, which has been in place for several years. That contract is valued at more than $4.5 million. The village pays Advanced Disposal for residential services through non-ad valorem assessments. Commercial services are billed directly by Advanced Disposal to the customers, such as businesses and multi-family condo units.
For residential services, the village pays Advanced Disposal $35.26 per month per unit. With 4,303 units billed, the monthly payment to the garbage company for those services is $151,723, or $1.8 million for the year. The village also pays for four quarterly hazardous waste disposal events each year, which totaled $30,929 for fiscal year 2019-20. The village also pays for special pickups, but that doesn’t exceed $10,000 a year.
The village gets revenue from franchise fees as part of the contract for use of streets, roads and rights of way to provide services to Advanced Disposal’s residential and commercial customers. That amounts to about $680,000. The village gets back 15% of payment in franchise fees for residential services where the village pays Advanced Disposal. For commercial services, the village gets back 15% of the amount billed to commercial customers on a quarterly basis.
Village administration and elected officials have become well aware of performance issues, including missed pickups due to breakdowns, which have left bins by the side of the road for days. In early June, the village issued a release telling its residents to report pickup problems and other complaints to the public works office.
Council members discussed garbage complaints a few months ago over Advanced Disposal’s contract with the village and whether the company had met its obligations. Talks resumed during the June 18 meeting, when vice mayor Ken Davis wondered whether it was time to seek services elsewhere.
“I have not seen or heard Advanced Disposal being compliant with their contract in the past few years,” he said. “They were supposed to have an office that’s staffed every day, and it’s never been done, I don’t think, since the contract originated.”
With Waste Management’s acquisition, Village Attorney Roget Bryan said, the company would assume the remaining terms of the contract between Islamorada and Advanced Disposal.
“Waste Management controls the majority of disposal sites within about 200 miles of us,” Bryan said. “There is a way for them to effectively provide services.”
Assuming official notification of the acquisition, Bryan said the village would immediately begin discussing efficiencies, and more importantly, what’s needed from Waste Management to address the issues.
If council wanted to move in a different direction, Bryan said, the village would have to give notice of termination, which is usually 90 days. A bid would then be sent out for solid waste services.
Mayor Mike Forster said he was told by Greg Sullivan, manager of Waste Management in the Lower Keys, that he’d be taking charge July 1.
“I have a lot more faith in Greg, knowing the work that he does further south, and that ties us together a little bit better, but it’s the choice of council to start looking,” he said.
Councilman Chris Sante said it’s hard to get past the poor service the village has seen. He said the village should look not only at other large providers, but also local ones.
Davis, who agreed with Sante, said he will wait and see what happens in the first 30 days after Waste Management takes charge.
“If it doesn’t go well, I’m with Chris; if we could find somebody local who could do the job efficiently, then we can take a look at it,” he said.
