Who could have forseen the rate hike ADS
requested
Monday morning at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session?
Maybe anybody who noticed that ADS’ bid was 40% more than
its quickly-acquired subsidiary Veolia’s bid.
Update 2014-12-10: No report from ADS in the
board packet.
Joe Adgie reported on this topic in the VDT 10 December 2014,
Advanced Disposal wants price increase.
8.a. Advanced Disposal —Steve Edwards (work session)
Video.
ADS wants to amend the exclusive franchise
for solid waste collection due to “lost revenue and unanticipated costs”.
And their number one reason: competition with “another hauler”,
in other words
Deep South Sanitation (DSS), the very company
ADS and the Lowndes County Commission have
sued all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court.
Nevermind DSS already had a business license for trash collection
before ADS and the Commission made that
exclusive franchise.
But who could have forseen that a pre-existing local company might actually
defend its right to do business in its home county,
despite a lawsuit from
ADS, owned by investors in New York City.
If the county wanted to be sure everybody eligible paid, they could have
made a special tax district like
state law explicitly authorizes the County Commission to do.
And ADS has had their trash rejected for excess contamination.
ADS spokesperson Steve Edwards claimed that was due to new regulations.
But what about the old regulations ADS wasn’t following?
He didn’t mention the City of Valdosta already refused to accept
ADS recycling because
ADS included household trash such as used diapers.
The
$12.80 price in the exclusive franchise
is not enough anymore, said ADS.
Who could have forseen that?
Maybe anybody who looked at the
9 October 2012 summary table of bids
which
included a bid for $18.39 from
Advanced Disposal Services Inc
Contact — Steve Edwards
Would that be the same Steve Edwards who just asked for a rate hike
Monday morning?
The same Steve Edwards who last year
couldn’t forsee any further ADS acquisitions
six weeks before
ADS bought another company, and then two more.
Maybe Steve Edwards couldn’t have forseen a rate hike,
but anybody who saw
ADS’ deal with Wakulla County, Florida for $196/year ($16.33/month)
could have.
Monday morning, Commissioner Demarcus Marshall suggested they address customer service first.
Maybe including
garbage falling off trucks
as one citizen told the Commission 25 March 2014 or
that
“horrible wretched smell” that another citizen noted 9 September 2014.
I would continue linking to citizens speaking against that exclusive
franchise and its ill effects, but
there have been so many of them.
Chairman Bill Slaughter said Monday morning that
this was an opportunity to “relook
at the solid waste plan”.
He noted there would be a new Commission with two new members.
We remember that the Commissioner who moved to adopt the solid waste
ordinance and the exclusive franchise, Richard Raines,
will no longer be on the Commission, nor another who voted for it,
Crawford Powell.
Maybe they could even hold
the public hearing state law requires
that they didn’t previously hold!
We shall see what the new Commissioners are willing to do.
Bill Slaughter was not Chairman and was not even on the Commission
when this bad deal was made.
He now has an opportunity to preside over fixing it, or even
exercise the termination clause.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall
is holding a Town Hall
6PM 15 December 2014 at the Lowndes County Civic Center,
2102 E Hill Avenue,
Valdosta, GA 31601.
That might be a good place to voice your ideas on trash collection.
-jsq