Before approving a transfer of management for the John Smith
Road landfill, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted
Tuesday to review the county’s existing contract and try to
negotiate lower trash disposal rates.
Hollister – Before approving a transfer of management for the John Smith Road landfill, the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to review the county’s existing contract and try to negotiate lower trash disposal rates.
Waste Solutions Inc., which currently operates the landfill, has in effect sold its contract with the county to Waste Connections, Inc., said Mandy Rose of the county’s Integrated Waste Management Department. Before the transfer can be completed, she said, it’s legally required to get the board’s approval.
“What if Gotti Garbage came to us? The supervisors would say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not in the county’s best interest.’ That’s why we come to you to get approval for a transfer of ownership,” Rose said.
But Supervisors Anthony Botelho, Don Marcus, and Jaime De La Cruz said Tuesday they could not approve the transfer in good faith as they were not satisfied with the rates under the current contract.
“My thing was that if we weren’t completely content with the contract, maybe with a new company asking to take over the existing agreement it might be a good opportunity to look into opening up the issue again,” Botelho said Tuesday night. “It’s also about ‘Who’s this new company?’ We have a responsibility for that landfill and the citizens of San Benito. This was all very new information and I don’t think this board is the type of rubber stamp kind of board that may have been there in the past where they knew more of the background.”
De La Cruz backed him up at Tuesday morning’s board meeting, saying rates had doubled in the past year under the current contract and adding he knew of landscaping companies that are just making ends meet because of high disposal fees for their material.
Rose confirmed Tuesday evening the pick-up rates had gone up in July of 2004, but had not even come close to doubling. Rather, the rates for trash pick-up went up from $7.50 to $10, with a discount offered if residents separated their waste for recycling, she said.
Still, a sub-committee consisting of Supervisors Botelho and Marcus will be discussing options with Rose over the next two weeks to renegotiate the contract before turning over management to Waste Connections.
Once the board does give its approval, Waste Connections will take on the existing contract between the county and Waste Solutions, Rose explained, so approval of the transfer has nothing to do with negotiating service rates. Still, she said she is hoping discussions over the next two weeks will prepare the board sufficiently to approve the transfer at its next regular meeting on Feb. 22.
At Tuesday morning’s meeting, Senior Vice President of Waste Solutions Inc. Mike Mahoney explained to the board the transfer of ownership would allow Waste Connections, a larger company, to better handle the growing needs of the John Smith Landfill.
“We’re at a critical juncture in the life of the landfill because we’re moving into the next cell. It’s going to require a lot of engineering. We knew we’d need a partner and we thought Waste Connections would be ideal, but it ended up working out better to transfer ownership,” he said.
Waste Connections Inc.’s Vice President of Engineering Jim Little also addressed the board, telling the supervisors the company would be more than happy to sit down and discuss a renegotiation of the contract at a later date.
After Tuesday’s meeting, Rose said she spoke with Botelho and De La Cruz and felt confident the transfer could be settled at the next regular meeting.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
