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Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes - Final December 1, 2020 <br />Vincent Burke, Director of Utility Services, Himanshu Mehta, Managing <br />Director of Solid Waste Disposal District (SWDD), and Ron Jones, Assistant <br />Managing Director of SWDD, along with representatives from Republic <br />Services and Waste Management Inc. of Florida (Waste Management) were <br />present before the Board. Director Burke referred to staffs memorandum <br />dated November 18, 2020, to provide the history of SWDD's relationship with <br />Waste Management, and three (3) options for moving forward. He stated that <br />the current franchise agreement would expire on October 1, 2022, and they <br />were 10 months from the contractual requirement to notify Waste Management <br />of the intent to renew or not to renew the franchise agreement. Director Burke <br />wrapped -up his presentation with staffs recommendation of Option 2, to keep <br />things as they are and direct staff to inform Waste Management of the SWDD's <br />intent to renew the franchise agreement through September 30, 2025. <br />Deborah Perez, Government Affairs Manager, Waste Management, addressed <br />the Board to recommend the approval of Option 3, to explore mandatory <br />collection prior to 2025, then direct staff to inform Waste Management of the <br />SWDD's intent to not renew the franchise agreement. Vice Chairman O'Bryan <br />inquired with Ms. Perez as to whether Waste Management would honor the <br />current contract if the SWDD decided to move to mandatory collection, and <br />Ms. Perez responded that the corporate office would make the decision. <br />Joanne Stanley, Municipal Sales Manager, Republic Services, was in favor of <br />Option 3, making mention that Republic Services was interested in bidding on <br />mandatory collection services. In addition, she provided Vice Chairman <br />O'Bryan with an explanation for the rates being charged to the residents of the <br />Town of Indian River Shores. <br />Joe Baird, representing Republic Services, also spoke in support of Option 3. <br />Discussion ensued among the Commissioners regarding the concerns and <br />benefits of universal/mandatory collection services. Vice Chairman O'Bryan <br />and Commissioner Adams felt the change was necessary and inevitable, and <br />they supported Option 3, moving to mandatory garbage collection beginning <br />October 1, 2022. Commissioner Earman, Chairman Flescher, and <br />Commissioner Moss were not in favor of a cost increase at the present time and <br />they supported Option 2, to renew the franchise agreement through September <br />30, 2025. All Commissioners were in favor of continued operations at all five <br />(5) convenience centers, regardless of the option being approved. <br />County Administrator Jason Brown responded to an inquiry from <br />Commissioner Moss, who was interested in knowing whether staff was <br />concerned about Waste Management's commitment to honor the franchise <br />agreement through 2025. He clarified his reason for believing that Waste <br />Management would continue to provide a good, reliable service to the County <br />residents, which led to Vice Chairman O'Bryan's discussion about complaints <br />he had received that bulk items were not being retrieved in a timely fashion. <br />Indian River County Florida Page 16 <br />