Trash pickup rival getting a chance to sway council
Advanced Disposal lost bid for $25M contract to longtime town vendor.
JUPITER — Advanced Disposal officials Wednesday will try to persuade the Jupiter Town Council that their company, not Waste Management Inc., should get the town’s $25 million trash contract.
No public comment will be allowed at the 7 p.m. meeting because the council vote “is in the nature of an appellate argument,” according to town attorney Tom Baird.
The Jupiter planning staff recommended hiring Advanced Disposal, with one of the main factors that town residents would pay about $1 million less annually — an annual savings of about $50 per residence.
After an intense last-minute campaign by Waste Management — featuring free T-shirts, emails to council members, surveys, $20 Starbucks gift cards to supporters and door-to-door visits to Jupiter residents — the council voted Nov. 15 at a packed council meeting to stick with Waste Management.
Waste Disposal on Nov. 18 filed a bid protest, saying Waste Management cheated. The council will hear from both trash firms Wednesday and decide to affirm or deny the bid protest.
“Wa s t e Ma n a ge me n t v e r y c l e a r l y v i o l a t e d t h e r u l e s , ” Advanced Disposal attorney Neil Schiller said.
Either way, the council must meet again to make a second and final decision on approving an ordinance to award the contract.
Waste Management has collected trash in Jupiter for about 30 years.
A Waste Management spokeswoman denied any violations of lobbying rules.
“Our small gesture of appreciation to our customers is standard business practice. Waste Management followed the rules of the process and any allegations otherwise are unfounded,” said Dawn McCormick, Waste Management director of communications and community relations, in an email.
Ad v a n c e d D i s p o s a l c o u l d appeal to Palm Beach County Circuit Court if the council votes down the bid protest.
There are about 29,000 residential customers in Jupiter, according to town records. At about $150 per year per customer, Waste Management will collect about $4.4 million annually from residential customers.
The contract calls for commercial collection costs to remain the same — about $7.75 per cubic yard.
Advanced Disposal proposed charging $8.45 monthly for residential collection of yard waste, vegetation, trash and recycling.
Houston-based Waste Management was awarded the contract to continue its service at $12.45 per month.
The meeting is open to the public. The meeting c an also be watched live at jupiter.fl.us.