Naples buys time to start own recycling

Naples' recycling contractor has agreed to extend its contract for three months at a reduced cost increase to allow city officials time to buy recycling trucks and hire employees for a proposed city-operated program, the city manager said Monday.

Waste Management Inc., whose contract expires June 19, agreed to continue for 90 more days at a 207 percent increase over its $238,824 yearly contract, which means the city will pay an additional $21,000 per month.

Waste Management alerted the city in March that it didn't want to renew its contract and cited cost increases stemming from increasing fuel costs, the inability to attract employees to the expensive area, and other unspecified factors. As a result, city officials put the contract out to bid. Waste Management was the lowest bidder, at $707,855.76, to provide the current bin service, or $876,183.12 for the curbside service with optional 65-gallon containers — increases of 296 and 367 percent.

City officials opted to initiate an inhouse program and purchase trucks, recycling bins, and hire four more employees. But it still needed to find a place to cart its recyclables. As a result, City Manager Bob Lee told City Council last week the city might have to temporarily suspend recycling if it couldn't find a facility.

Lee told council Monday that Waste Management had agreed to extend the contract until city officials could initiate their own program, now estimated at $340,760 yearly. City officials initially had projected a $415,000 yearly cost. Council will make the decision official with a vote on Wednesday.

"This will give us the opportunity to secure the equipment and have the staff ready to assume the program," Lee said after the meeting. "At this point, residents and business people don't need to do anything different. They will continue to receive the same level of service or better."

In a report to Lee, Public Works Director Dan Mercer said the contract increases curbside collection from $2.35 to $3.35 and multi-family building collection from $14.35 to $48. He said city officials can use the 90-day period to purchase two 25-yard rear loading compactor trucks that reduce contamination prior to unloading. Those trucks also could be used to remove storm debris after hurricanes.

Mercer said council also would have to authorize four new positions for the Solid Waste Division — two equipment operators and two service workers. City staff will separate the residential curbside recyclables, which means residents won't have to separate, his memo says. However, his memo says, multifamily complexes that use 95-gallon recycling carts will continue to separate recyclables.

Naples will transport materials to its Solid Waste Management Facility, where they will be emptied into 40-yard rolloff containers and transported to Fort Myers once they are full, a 80.4-mile round trip. Naples will receive revenue from Lee County for its recyclables and won't be charged a processing fee.