PSL City Council approves plan, priorities to address solid waste collection

PSL City Council approves plan, priorities to

address solid waste collection

PORT ST. LUCIE – The Port St. Lucie City Council today took action on a significant list of short and long-term solutions to address Waste Pro’s severe service deficiencies, including allowing a contractor to collect yard and bulky waste on an emergency basis to achieve consistent service levels for residents.

City Council provided direction to the City Manager to hire supplemental contractors to collect yard and bulky waste to address immediate needs. This will alleviate the utilization of City staff, which has been supplementing this service for several weeks since Waste Pro has neglected to consistently collect yard waste for the past three months.

As an emergency measure, due to Waste Pro providing notice to the City that it will be terminating the contract in September, Council also unanimously agreed to move forward with finding other service providers to replace Waste Pro as the City’s solid waste hauler. Council also approved many of the recommendations made by the City’s Solid Waste Task Force for long-term solutions to support a future franchise agreement.

“We finally have a very clear path forward,” said Mayor Shannon Martin. “Unfortunately, we can no longer continue to rely on Waste Pro. They have lost the public’s trust, and they have not taken the necessary actions to improve and provide the services they are required to under the existing contract.”

The following is a list of the recommendations by the Solid Waste Task Force which will be implemented when a permanent contract is in place:

For automated garbage collection, residents would utilize a City-provided 64- or 96-gallon cart with the option to purchase an additional cart if more capacity is needed. Collection would be once a week.
Recycling collection would remain the same.
Yard waste would be limited to 4 cubic yards per week, which is about the size of a large conference table.
Bulky waste would be limited to five pieces with a collection day once a month.
The City would continue its voluntary Convenience Center where residents can drop off bulky and yard waste at no additional charge.
The City would be divided into two franchise zones, allowing more than one solid waste hauler to provide service to our residents.
Commercial service would mirror the two residential franchise zones.

Residents can watch the entire Special City Council meeting on the City’s Facebook site.