New garbage service contract approved

Beginning next year, residents of the city of Fernandina Beach will pay more to have Waste Management pick up garbage less often after the city commission approved, on first reading, a new contract at its May 16 meeting.

The city issued a request for proposals for garbage and recycling collection last September, and in December the city commission voted to approve the proposal from Waste Management, but with once-per-week pickup, as opposed to the current twice-per-week service for garbage and  once-per-week for recycling. The contract was negotiated and came to the city commission this month.

Jeremiah Glisson, Operations Director of the city’s Publics Works, gave a presentation to the city commission before they voted on the new contract. He said there were both advantages and disadvantages of once-per-week garbage collection.

Having trucks run one time a week reduces traffic and pollution, wear and tear on roads and reduces blight as fewer cans will be on the curb. Once-per-week collection improves recycling contribution, Glisson said. However, it also increases recycling contamination, illegal dumping and the amount of yard waste collected by WM.

“It will still cost more than the current level of service,” Glisson’s presentation said.

Currently, residential customers pay $20.37 per month for twice-per-week garbage collection, once-per-week recycling collection and once-per-week bulk collection. Starting in January 2024, the price will be $27.68, with once-per-week service. WM charges the city $25.17 per week, and the city adds a 10% mark up for administration and billing.

Resorts and short-term rentals prefer twice-per-week garbage pickup, but Glisson told the commission last year that the new contract includes mechanisms to provide for an additional can for a fee, and for roll back service, where WM will retrieve cans from residences and businesses and return them, eliminating the need to put the cans on the curb.

“Great job negotiating this, it’s a big win for the city,” Mayor Bradley Bean told Glisson at the meeting approving the contract.

jroberts@fbnewsleader.com