Our 'Two Cents'

Commissioner Condon Was for the New Trash Contract, Before She Was Against It

Our take: County government is spreading misinformation and refusing to share all of the facts. The previous story gave a range of prices for the second cart based on market rates, and the $5.11 monthly fee was confirmed in February. What our government failed to mention is that the cans are only coming from them because the Commission agreed to pay $5 million to FCC Environmental Services. They also failed to mention that they are taking a 3-4 percent cut off the top of this deal as “administration fees.”

By SHELBIE GRAHAM

Earlier this week, Clay News & Views dug deep to answer the community’s many unanswered questions about Clay County’s upcoming decade-long contract with FCC Environmental Services, which will add costs and reduce services to all Clay homeowners except those living in Green Cove Springs and Orange Park.

The story addressed unanswered questions, misinformation and omissions—in part, by the Clay County Government itself.

Uproar Over New Curbside Trash Collection: Higher Cost, Fewer Services

Remember when Commissioner Betsy Condon voted against the curbside collection in February? As explained by the previous story, her rationale for voting in opposition was cart maintenance, which she said would charge Clay residents “two cents” more per month than necessary.

Here’s One ‘Cent’

Condon’s oppositional vote lets her say she “voted against” the contract, but as explained by the previous story, that doesn’t paint the whole picture. In December, Condon was the one who “made a motion for approval of staff ranking,” and staff’s ranking gave FCC a score of 175.6 out of 200—in other words, a B+ evaluation.

It took the Clay County Board of County Commissioners three votes to lock Clay in a contract with FCC:

• December: A 5-0 vote selected FCC from among Waste Management and Waste Pro.

• January: A 3-2 vote selected which of the six services the FCC was offering that the BCC wanted to negotiate on. Commissioners Mike Cella and Alexandra Compere voted in opposition.

• February: A 4-1 vote accepted the contract. Condon voted in opposition.

Condon’s rationale for voting against had nothing to do with supporting recycling, avoiding overflow fees, regulating the 360-degree cameras, FCC’s debatably suspicious record servicing Orange County or that it would mean a decade-long contract with Clay. Her rationale was about “two cents” per month (and “five jobs” that may go to Putnam County).

Here’s Another ‘Cent’

The real mistake may have been when Charles Merkley, the FCC Director of Environmental Services, strong-armed the County Commission to rush into a decision.

In January, Compere was skeptical about the contract, specifically about recycling, and said she wanted to talk to her constituents before voting.

“For my district in particular, I want to give them two more weeks to weigh in on this… I want to get substantive feedback on this decision… I don’t want to make a unilateral decision. I want as much community buy-in from my district before making a decision… I would be remiss to not ask that,” Compere said in January.

“Time is of the essence,” Charles Merkley of FCC said.

Merkley dissuaded commissioners by saying, “Our manufacturers are pushing us for orders,” and, “We can’t order the equipment until we have a signed agreement” and “time is of the essence.”

You can look at the meeting minutes posted online, but they don’t paint the full picture. I implore all Clay residents to go back and watch the actual meeting recordings on Facebook (and to always watch every County Commission meeting on Facebook in the future).

An Analogy: How the Sausage Was Made

A governmental committee brought forth three “chefs” to county commissioners in December who had three “recipes” for a curbside contract with the county. The governmental committee had a “taste test” from each chef, and said they liked FCC the best.

In January, the Commission had its own “taste test” and saw what the prices for curbside collection, the “meat” of the operation. Compere wanted to let her constituents “take a bite,” but the FCC chef pressured county commissiners to decide immediately: You don’t want the “food” to get cold, do you? By February, most of the deal had been hammered out—the “meat” was rolled in links—and Clay County will be eating that sausage for 10 years.

And it just might taste like garbage.