High Springs Commission Approves Water, Sewer, Solid Waste Hikes, Seeks To Recover $350k From Waste Pro

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The High Springs City Commission on Nov. 28 approved rated hikes that have been a sore spot with many in the community. The Commission raised solid waste rates on residential 96-gallon cans by $4.62 to $27.75. Commercial Cans increased based on the number of pickups per week from $36.10 for one pickup, $72.20 for two pickups, $108.32 for three pickups, $144.43 for four pickups and $180.54 for five pickups per week. Dumpster rates for two-yard dumpsters will be $119.77 for one pickup per week, $199.37 for two pickups, $296.58 for three pickups, $380.35 for four pickups and $494.30 for five pickups per week.

If proposed negotiations with current waste hauler Waste Pro result in decreases, the Commission said they would reduce the waste prices. Rate increases will take place in January.

The Commission also approved water and sewer rate hikes based on the CPI rate of 5.7 percent. A previously approved resolution allows the City to make those rate hikes automatically each year without having to approve each item by ordinance. The rate increases will take effect as of the next meeting on Dec. 14 and will be included in the late December billing cycle.

The Commission remains concerned about rate increases proposed in the contract with Waste Pro, the City’s new waste hauling company. High Springs Finance Director Diane Wilson said there had been no complaints about Waste Pro’s service, although the former waste hauler amassed several citizen complaints daily.

During the meeting, some Commissioners initially said they thought Waste Pro said they would maintain the same costs as the former waste hauling company until October. Later in the meeting one person said they remember hearing that, but that it wasn’t Waste Pro’s representative who had said it. Commissioners seemed unsure who had said it, but all seemed to remember it being said.

Commissioners stressed that they had not seen the actual numbers of the new waste contract prior to voting on it, and believed information had been withheld by City staff.

City Clerk Angela Stone researched the issue during the meeting and found that Assistant City Manager Bruce Gillingham had sent a final draft of the contract, which included all the costs, in an email to Commissioners a day or two prior to the vote on the new contract. Further, she said Addendum A, the item detailing the contract costs, had actually been printed out and placed at each Commissioner’s seat prior to the April meeting, the date when the vote on the Waste Pro contract was taken.

Since the new contract with Waste Pro, the City has been billed at the new waste rates, but has not passed along those rate increases to the customers. Wilson said the City was in a deficit situation and needed to, at a minimum, increase the rates by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) amount of 5.7 percent. Wilson said that would not fix the issue, but it was better than nothing.

The Commission agreed to set up a workshop with Waste Pro to discuss the contract and determine if the company would consider reducing the rates from the contract signing date in April to October 1, an amount that could be as high as $350,000.

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Cont.:     City seeks to recover $350,000 in waste hauling charges