Inscoe voices sanitation concerns


Remarking during the old business portion of the Henderson City Council’s regular Monday meeting that the issue of whether or not to privatize sanitation has not yet been determined, council member Mike Inscoe told members that his remarks would be part question and part statement.

Noting that when Henderson put out a request for proposals on the issue of privatizing solid waste pick up, Inscoe reminded members that Waste Industries, Inc. was the only organization that sent a proposal.

Inscoe stressed that his questions regarding contractual arrangements were not specific to Waste Industries, but were general to Henderson’s contractual relationship with any vendor.

The council member said that when he looked at the sample contract that Waste Industries sent, he could not find any performance summaries or statements to establish key performance measures. Inscoe went on to say that nowhere in the contract was there a way for damages to be incurred by the city for failure to fulfill the contract for items such as missed pick ups.

Inscoe asked if the city would have to respond to instances of problems where the vendor did not respond, and asked if there would be penalty clauses and damages assessed by the city if that were the case.

The Ward 2 member stated that he believes that the vendor should provide an annual survey to all households to get a summary of citizen opinions as to whether the contractor is doing a good or poor job.

“The devil is in the details,” Inscoe said. “We need to look at all of the details.”

Inscoe went on to ask how holiday pick ups, such as Christmas, would be handled. During Christmas, Inscoe observed, there is usually more waste. He asked how the situation would be handled if extra bags were placed by the cart. He wondered if they be collected without additional charges to the customer or the city.

Inscoe observed that the sample contract held the city responsible for the maintenance of garbage containers. Mentioning that that clause “maybe…should be negotiated”, the council member went on to ask what would happen if a garbage container was damaged beyond repair or stolen. Specifically, he wondered who would be responsible.

The council member also asked what would be the recourse of a citizen if their property was damaged by the contractor. Stating that a contractor would carry insurance, he wondered to whom the citizen would appeal, the contractor or the city.

Inscoe was also critical of the sample contract’s stipulations regarding inflation factors, particularly fuel cost adjustments. He said that there are tables set forth by the federal government that list ratios of fuel adjustment costs that could be included in the contract, rather than “arbitrary” adjustments by the vendor. He indicated that fuel costs could be adjusted monthly, since fuel costs go down as well as up.

The councilman informed members that the North Carolina Department of Environmental & Natural Resources has grant money available for the purchase, lease, or upsizing of roll-out waste containers that can be applied for at any time. He stressed that this needed looking into.

“These are questions I would like staff to do a little additional research on,” Inscoe said.

City Manager Ray Griffin said that staff would “endeavor” to get the questions responded to.

Inscoe’s questions are likely to be addressed in the next council work session scheduled for January 25, 2010.