Is Polk County trash hauler doing better? Complaints down since ultimatum was issued

Since Polk County put its third-party trash hauler on notice — threatening to terminate their contract if they don't improve within 30 days — fewer residents have complained about missed curbside collections, the county's waste management director told the commission Tuesday.

"We are tracking it everyday," Ana Wood said, noting that phone call complaints have dropped 24 percent while complaints via the county's website have decreased by 76 percent since Jan. 4.

Complaints mounted through 2021: Polk saw 1,248 about missed collections in July.

Wood said FCC Environmental in the past week has added four extra trucks to its fleet via a subcontractor in an effort to boost services.

Whether FCC has done enough to keep its job could be determined on Feb. 1 when representatives with the Texas-based company give the commission a status update.

Regardless of what happens then, residents who see a lapse in their service will soon have another option for getting rid of their trash.

The commission voted Tuesday for the county to waive its landfill fee to anyone who is bringing in garbage missed by the hauler. That will take effect on Feb 1.

Typically, the landfill charges a minimum $10 fee, or $36.50 per ton of trash. Residents of unincorporated Polk pay $206 a year to have their household trash shuttled away.

Wood said the county tracks which neighborhoods are missed each day and has a way of validating if customers who arrive at the landfill qualify for free admission.

"We are working on how we are going to manage that," she told The Ledger. "We know conceptually how it’s going to work."

The county has waived landfill admission fees in the past after hurricanes.

In directing staff to make the change in light of service problems, commissioners also made a plea to residents: If your trash isn't collected on time, report it to the county so it can be documented.

"Everyone who has their garbage missed needs to say they had their garbage missed," said Commissioner Bill Braswell, who's been among the most vocal critics of the company. "Not having documentation, if this thing winds up in court, it's going to be an issue."

Among disagreements between the county and the company: FCC Environmental says that fewer than 1% of their customers have experienced missed collections.

FCC sends letter to county: 'We respectfully disagree.'

"I don't believe that to be the case," Braswell said. "But I do believe that 1 percent are complaining. I hope to encourage more people to report this."

Trash pickup contract dispute continues

Polk County and FCC Environmental are tangled in a contract dispute. After months of complaints from residents and commissioners about missed collections, County Attorney Randy Mink sent a letter to the company saying they are in "material default" on its end of the agreement.

FCC's Chief Executive Officer Inigo Sanz responded with a letter of his own, saying the county "has no evidence" to support that claim.

The company is under contract with the county through 2024, but some commissioners have expressed an interest in firing them.

Polk County residents 'deserve better.': 'Can we fire them?'

In his letter, Sanz cited COVID-19 as an unforeseen event that has impacted the company's ability to perform. Those challenges have been exacerbated by widespread county growth — which has increased the number of homes in its service area — and staffing issues.

Sanz said in the letter that the company has tabbed a subcontractor in order to get more trucks and employees on the street. He and other company leaders have vowed improvement.

"We've got their attention," Commissioner Rick Wilson said Tuesday.

A plan B for waste hauling?

At Tuesday's meeting, County Commissioner George Lindsey asked County Manager Bill Beasley for a "Plan B" if the company is deemed a failure by Feb. 1.

Beasley said that's still being determined.

"We are working at this behind the scenes, but we really haven't crystallized at this point what that will actually look like or what strategies we will propose to the board. But they have to center around augmenting the services."

He said it may be difficult for the county to find another company willing to take on FCC's scope of work.

FCC's service area includes 78,356 homes on the west side of Polk County.

"We are looking and talking to outside resources," Beasley said. "But I'll tell ya: I'm a little concerned about what outside resources are willing to dedicate that kind of resource to Polk County with the expectations of Polk County. I believe other firms have challenges of their own and may be hesitant to make those kinds of commitments to Polk County knowing that if they don't perform a letter is coming to them."

Dustin covers Polk County government and county-wide issues. He can be reached at dwyatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @LLDustin_Wyatt.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: County officials FCC doing better, waives landfill admission fee