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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem VI (C) Solid Waste Management Audit "CENTER OF GOOD UVING - PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" AGENDA 3-17-92 Item VI C L."j",;,-.J .1..&..;..1., lJ.r\.uuCJ, J~. CITY OF OCOEE 150 N. LA1<ESHORE DRIVE OCOEE FLORIDA 34761 (407) 656-2322 COMMISSIONERS RUSTY JOHNSON PAUL W. FOSTER VERN COMBS SAM WOODSON CITY MANAGER ELUS SHAPIRO MEMORANDUM TO: The Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners FROM: Ellis Shapiro, City Manager DATE: March 12, 1992 SOLID WASTE STUDY - RECOMMENDATIONS RE: Upon review and discussion with staff and LaRue, we recommend the following actions: (1) Upon review of our contract with Orange County by our City Attorney, take such steps necessary to legally break this agreement and write specifications and bid for a private recycling program. (2) In fund analyses, our staff has concluded that the ticketing system has many administrative drawbacks that might do more harm than good. To this end, we would like to ask the citizens to join us in participating in a home composting program of grass clippings as much as possible. When good participation from the citizens and with some savings we will have in recycling we would recommend that effective April 1, 1992, the monthly sanitation charge be reduced from $18.00/month to $16.00/month. If approved the reduction will be seen in the citizens' May bill. At the end of 6 months, we will see how effective the composting program has been as well as the recycling bids, and report to the City Commission as to our fund's condition. (3) We will continue to monitor our routing to insure the equalization and efficiency of routes. Increased efficiency should help in keeping costs down as much as possible. (4) With current equipment and manpower our system can support only 600 additional customers. To this end, we need to immediately determine how we are going to serve our new subdivisions in the future. We would recommend that we look at 90 gallon rollout containers and retrofit at least one rear load packer for automated lift as an interim method of pickup in at least new subdivisions. The Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners Page Two March 12, 1992 To this end, we would like to have a Special Meeting with the City commission to discuss short and long term goals of pickup in the next 30 to 45 days. ES:fdg bmitted, Attachment LaRUE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT SERVICES 13180 N. Cleveland Avenue, Suite 238 N. Ft. Myers, FL 33903 (813) 995-0677 February 20, 1992 Mr. Ellis Shapiro City Manager City of Ocoee 150 Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, Florida 32761 RE: Solid Waste 'Management Audit Dear Mr. Shapiro: Enclosed please find the results of our Solid Waste Management Audit for the City of Ocoee, Florida. During our audit all areas of the Solid Waste Management Division were reviewed in detail and the findings encompass the areas set out below: A. A review of all financial data was made in order to determine the factors resulting in the current financial position of the Solid Waste Division. An analysis of City audits from 1984 to the present was completed. This review included the unaudited figures for the year 1990-1991. A brief overview of the new rates (adopted in 1988) and their impact upon the fiscal status of the Division was completed. Also, the Customer Service implications of those rates will be discussed later in this report. B. A field inspection was conducted of all routes that are used for the collection of garbage, yard debris and recyclables within the City. The elements examined included the type of equipment used, the number of pick-ups per route, the handling of the yard debris program and its dumping procedures. Recommendations have been made on these important issues. C. An analysis was completed with regard to the recycling program, including how and what is to be collected, how it should be disposed and a discussion of recycling options available for the City in the future. Mr. Ellis Shapiro RE: Solid Waste Management Audit February 20, 1992 Page -2- D. A review was conducted of personnel allocation and their task assignments. Also, any bottlenecks observed in the collection process have been recorded. Recommendations are also included relative to the current salary structure of this Division. E. An examination was made of the Solid Waste Division rates and recommendations have been made concerning their adequacy. Recommendations were also made to plan for the proper renewal and replacement of equipment. F. Analysis and recommendations were made as to the appropriate manning alignment for the collection process. Recommendations The recommendations within this report are to be seen as positive management improvements. While they are not all-inclusive, they should be seen, if implemented, as contributing to a more effective and efficiently run Solid Waste Division. It is our hope that this report assists the City of Ocoee in their future endeavors with the Solid Waste Division. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (813) 995-0677. ,ofp- ames . LaRue ,- President JGL:fb enclosure: (1) Solid Waste Division Audit CITY OF OCOEE SOLID WASTE DMSION MANAGEMENT AUDIT PREPARED BY Mr. Elly Johnson for LaRue Planning & Management Services 13180 North Cleveland Avenue, Suite 211 Fort Myers, Florida 33903 (813) 995-0677 CITY OF OCOEE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUDIT Background During the preparation of stages of the 1991-1992 fiscal year budget, the City staff recommended that the sanitation fees for the City be raised from $13.00 to $18.00 in order to generate enough revenue to eliminate the deficit in the Solid Waste Division fund. This deficit has been present in the Division since the close of the fiscal year of 1988. Also, on October 1, 1991, The County's landfill costs were increased over 90%, thus affecting the largest part of the City's solid waste stream. The rate increased from $17.00 per ton to $32.65 per ton. The rates were adopted and became effective for the new fiscal year starting October 1, 1991. During that time notification was also sent to the citizens of Ocoee restricting what types of solid waste and how much would be picked up. After the citizens received their first bills with the increased rates and realized the changes in what the City would pick up they started contacting the City Commissioners. Citizens demanded an explanation as to why rates were increased while service had decreased. As a result of the citizens' concerns, the City Manager engaged the services of LaRue Planning and Management Services to perform a management audit of the Solid Waste Division. The purpose of this audit is to review all aspects of the City of Ocoee Solid Waste Division to determine if there can or should be improvements made to make this Division more cost effective and efficient. Current Operations of the Solid Waste Division 1) Personnel The Solid Waste Division currently consists of twelve (12) full-time employees and two (2) customer service representatives. The salaries of the twelve full-time City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 2 employees are completely paid by the Solid Waste Division budget, while only 113 of the salaries of the two customer service representatives is paid by the Solid Waste Division. The current assignment of personnel in the Solid Waste Division is set out below: . 1 Supervisor (17 years of service) . 2 Driver II Classification (14 years of service each) . 1 Driver I Classification (5 112 years of service) . 1 Driver I Classification (4 years of service) . 7 Collectors (service ranges from 3 mos. up to 3 years) Three of the drivers are used on the Class I pick-up, Monday-Thursday and Tuesday- Friday routes and on Wednesday they pick-up yard debris. One driver operates the recycling truck everyday except Wednesday and on Wednesday this driver also picks up yard debris. There are two collectors on each garbage truck and one collector on the recycling truck. The Supervisor is presently overseeing the Solid Waste Division and also serves as the Supervisor of City Vehicle Maintenance. 2) Equipment Twelve pieces of equipment are assigned to the Solid Waste Division at this time. The City has five (5) packers ranging from four (4) to fifteen (15) years in age. The City uses a 1990 I-ton truck to pull the recycling trailers which were built in-house to collect recyclable material. This truck is also used to pull the chipper on Wednesday when yard debris is collected. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 3 3) Routes The City collection schedule is broken down into six (6) routes for Class I collection and four (4) routes for recyclable collection. All equipment is used on Wednesday to collect yard debris (i.e. grass clippings), with the exception of the one vehicle used to pull the chipper and grind up yard trash. See Exhibit I for specific route schedules. The separation of grass clippings began in December and seems to be operating efficiently. 4) Yard Debris All trucks and manpower are used to collect yard debris on Wednesday. Disposal: The following list of facilities are those used by the City of Ocoee at the present time. a) Porter Transfer - Located at Orlando and Good Holmes Road. This facility is where the City dumps its garbage. Porter Transfer serves as a transfer station for Orange County. b) Keene Road Site - The City disposes of large tree stumps, yard and garden trash at this facility. c) McCormick Road - The City disposes of its recyclable materials at this location under an agreement with Orange County. The exception is news print collected by the City, which is kept separately and disposed of at a private facility. The news print does not generate a large amount of revenue but does reduce the weight by a substantial amount. d) Woodgo - is a privately run incinerator that the City uses to dispose City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 4 of grass clippings and other yard waste. 5) Customer Billing History The January 1992 billing for the City of Ocoee Solid Waste Division totaled 4,436 customers. The growth history for solid waste billing is set out below: January 1989 3,143 January 1990 3,756 (19.5% increase over 1989) January 1991 4,045 (7.69% increase over 1990) January 1992 4,436 (7.49% increase over 1991) January 1993 4,768 (PROJECTED 7.5% increase over 1992 based on 7.5% growth of the customer base) 6) Financial Information In reviewing the past years 1984 - 1991, there are certain factors that have been instrumental in affecting the current fiscal situation in the Solid Waste Division of Ocoee. From the beginning years, in 1984 and 1985, it seems as though the rates were not set high enough to take care of the expenditures. Later on, when the operating revenues were in the black, transfers were then made from the Solid Waste fund. The effect of this outflow, most recently, has caused this fund to remain at deficit level. The fiscal information from 1984 to 1991 have been included below: 1984 Operating Revenue before Transfers Transfer In Transfer Out $(91,370.00) 72,320.00 0.00 Ending Retained Earnings $(19,050.00) 31.686.00 $12,636.00 41.569.00 $54.205.00 NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net Increase in Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 5 1985 Operating Revenues before Transfers Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net IncreaselDecrease Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings 1986 Operating Revenues before Transfers Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation of Contributed Capital Net Increase in Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings 1987 Operating Revenues before Transfers Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net IncreaselDecrease Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings $(115,107.00) 42,085.00 0.00 $( 73,022.00) 26.164.00 $( 46,858.00) 54.205.00 $ 7.347.00 $(86,292.00) 42,085.00 0.00 $ 5,722.00 21.967.00 $27,689.00 7.347.00 $35.036.00 $(117,512.00) 81,000.00 0.00 $(36,512.00) 15.527.00 $(20,985.00) 35.036.00 $ 14.051.00 City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 6 1988 Operating Revenues before Transfer Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net IncreaselDecrease Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings 1989 Operating Revenues before Transfer Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net IncreaselDecrease Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings 1990 Operating Revenues before Transfer Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net Increase/decrease Retained Earnings Beginning of Year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings $(32,029.00) 0.00 0.00 $(32,029.00) 10.908.00 $(21,121.00) 14.051.00 $( 7.070.00) $54,919.00 0.00 (63,970.00) $( 9,051.00) 0.00 $( 9,051.00) ( 7.070.00) $ (16.121.00) $ 30,259.00* 0.00 (69,777.00) $(25,476.00) 0.00 $(25,476.00 $(16.121.00) $( 41.597 .00) $ 22,115.44** 0.00 (66,315.33) $(44,199.89) 0.00 (44,199.89) ( 41.597 .00) $(85.796.89) City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 7 1991 (Unaudited) Operating Revenue before Transfers Transfer In Transfer Out NET INCOME (LOSS) Depreciation on Contributed Capital Net IncreaselDecrease Retained Earnings Beginning of year Retained Earnings Ending Retained Earnings * Includes $38,999.00 in grant funds ** Includes $21,822.00 in grant funds Retained Earnings 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 $ 54,205.00 7,347.00 35,036.00 14,051.00 ( 7,070.00) Deficit ( 16,121.00) Deficit ( 41,597.00) Deficit ( 85,796.00) Deficit Unaudited 7) Comparative Solid Waste Rates (as of January 1, 1992). The Solid Waste Rates of Ocoee are compared below with the surrounding communities of Central Florida: Winter Garden Apopka Oakland $15.00 $13.00 $10.50 $18.00 $10.50 $12.00 $10.50 $12.00 Ocoee Orange County Altamonte Springs Orlando Winter Park 2-1-1 (except large!heavy items) 2-1-1 2-1 2-1-1 2-1-1 (billed on an annual basis) 2-2 2-1-1 2-1-1 City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 8 8) Recycling Assessment Field observations revealed that with the present equipment that is being utilized, the recycling routes are almost at full capacity. The costs for the dumping fees of recycling materials appeared to be excessive. Dumping fees for recycling were between $46.00 and $48.00 per ton while garbage is at $32.65 per ton. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 9 ISSUE ASSESSMENT ISSUE I: ADEQUACY OF RATES The City of Ocoee, since 1988, has been operating at a loss in the Solid Waste Division. The new rates, adopted at the beginning of the current fiscal year, appear to have reduced the deficit by $20,000.00 in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 91-92 (this figure is representative from the beginning of the current fiscal year and is taken from the unaudited deficit). Based on this data, it is possible that the Division deficit could be eliminated by the end of the current fiscal year. The present budget (adopted) for the Solid Waste Division appears to be adequate for the current fiscal year. Although several line items were underfunded, these are offset by underspending for other line items and the overall budget should be in the black. Current personnel costs appear to be in order at this time, but a close watch should be kept on the fringe benefit costs including longevity increases, and other associated items. The major problem at this time is attempting to overcome the past history of underfunding the Division, which occurred by transferring out large amount of funds from the solid waste revenues without having the proper billing rates to justify those transfers. RECOMMENDATION: If the current rates remain in effect, the sanitation fund should reduce the deficit to a break even point. Particular actions to be taken should include: 1. Eliminate pick up of yard trash except by purchase of tickets at the City, thereby reducing monthly charge by $1.50 per month. 2. Future consideration of an optimal 1-1 system should be discussed early next budget year. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 10 ISSUE II: PERSONNEL AND ROUTING ALIGNMENTS Observation of the current alignment of the crews on the trucks did not reveal any obvious shortcomings. With the type and size of present equipment, any other configuration of personnel would be a further strain on the system. Furthermore, with the present number of employees it is felt that the City should be in a position to increase the number of collections for at least 600 more customers. The basis for this observation is based on the number of customers scheduled for pick-up on the Monday-Thursday routes compared to the Tuesday-Friday routes which handles approximately 500 to 600 customers more. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the current manning alignment of crews on the trucks remain unchanged until there can be an upgrade to the equipment presently used. Routes should be reviewed on an annual basis prior to each year's budget adoption and balanced to keep them equal. Also, with projected customer growth, it would be advisable to have the new areas added to the lighter days. It is also felt that with the increase in loads and continued changes in the requirements of solid waste laws, the Supervisor of the Division should devote his/her full attention to the duties of the position and no longer be assigned to two locations. The recycling routes could be altered depending upon future arrangements made by the City for this program. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that routing should be based upon homogenous areas of pickup and should numerically be equalized. Staff should continually monitor significant numerous changes in growth. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 11 ISSUE Ill: EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS Under the present conditions, the City is attempting to work its way out from under fiscal deficit. Since there is still another year of payments remaining on the two 1988 trucks, fiscal year 1992-1993 will be extremely tight. The City needs to seriously review the benefits that could possibly be derived from the purchase of new equipment that is less labor intensive. Also, because of the City's continued growth projections, serious consideration has to be given to the purchase of new and more efficient equipment. With larger capacity walk- through cab trucks, each route could be collected in a more efficient manner and future growth handled without additional manpower. The City should also make an effort to dispose of all surplus equipment and clean up the area used by the Solid Waste Division. RECOMMENDATION: The City needs to establish a capital improvement renewal and replacement fund immediately to replenish its current inventory of vehicles and equipment. In the interim for new developments, the City should consider the purchase of 90 gallon Toter barrels and the placement of rear dump units on current equipment. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 12 ISSUE IJ7: RECYCLING The review of the recycling program raises the question of whether the City should continue to operate as it is now doing under the County system. The rates are excessive, the equipment is operating at capacity and costs will increase. RECOMMENDATION: Explorations should be made to see if the recycling program can be contracted out privately. A suggestion is to inspect requests for proposal's and resulting contracts for neighboring communities that have been successful in this program. The above recommendation will require an assessment of the present recycling agreement with the County to see if this contract can be negated without penalties to the City of Ocoee. Also, if the Recycling Program was contracted out, the present recycling equipment could be sold to provide funds to purchase other needed hauling vehicles and equipment. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 13 ISSUE J-': DISPOSAL The disposal of Class I garbage should continue to be disposed of in the same manner as is currently being used. The area of recycling materials has already been discussed and should be given attention before the 1992-93 budget work begins. RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that a site of approximately ten (10) acres be set aside at the Utility Plant to be used as a chipping and/or mulching site so that the City can either utilize the material or make it available to the citizenry. Also, grass clippings should be kept separately and disposed of separately. Consideration should be given to possibly requiring residents to compost their grass clippings at home. It was suggested that the fee be reduced to offset the program of home composting. It is also difficult to keep rates low when the County increases its tipping rate by 92% and penalizes the City when garbage is contaminated with yard wastes. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 14 Other obseIVations were made concerning the Customer Billing Program and the Financial Records for this program. Comments are made below. Customer Billing & Record Keeping In studying the current billing practices employed by the Division, no major problems were obseIVed. The one area that should be addressed in the future are the outstanding accounts receivable that show up on the books each month. A suggestion is to check with other cities to see how they are addressing this problem and be prepared to recommend changes when the ordinance is changed in the future. The City should also closely obseIVe the Senior Citizen Program, as the costs projected for the current year amounts to over $98,000.00 One area which seems to be lacking in proper record keeping is the collection of data as it relates to the amount of garbage, yard debris and recyclable materials collected. Any review process undertaken in the future would be simplified if these records were updated on a monthly basis. Finance Records The overall condition of the finance records are fairly up-to-date. The staff seems to be aware of the short fall areas that require work, and are in the process of correcting current problems. The availability of current financial data does not seem to pose a problem. However, records for the last fiscal year have already been stored, and access takes longer. It is felt that all changes made to the Solid Waste Division budget should be discussed with the Public Works Director and his staff before any changes are made. Evidently, there were changes made to the budget after the beginning of the fiscal year which could, and should have been made prior to budget adoption. The Finance Department Staff should take time to educate the Public Works Department in the budget and financial process to avoid future problems. City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 15 An area of general concern that should be kept under close scrutiny for the future well being of the City is the present personnel system and how it is going to affect the future labor cost in the City. The present salaries are competitive and the employees seem to have a good attitude toward their work tasks. The residents of Ocoee have had unlimited service for years with very little restriction, and then the whole system was changed. People today have a problem when it comes to adjusting to change. One area which needs attention immediately is the enforcement of the current ordinance which regulates the amount, size, when and where garbage and yard debris is to be placed out and how much will be picked up. At the present time garbage is left out for days and animals go through it and cause a mess in the residential neighborhoods. The City should have a strong enforcement program to carry out the requirements set out in the Solid Waste Ordinance that have been adopted or else consider changing them back to the original requirements. In order to properly enforce the requirements a program of warnings and education should be established at once to make sure that those who violate the ordinances are made aware of their violations. It is time consuming when the collector has to stop, count the number of bags of garbage or trash, then decide what he has to leave and what has to be collected on that particular route on that particular day. This situation limits effectiveness. Also, the commercial dumpsters are being used by the citizens to dispose of their yard trash, as well as a collection station for their recycling business. There is a very serious need for some type of enforcement program to stop the digging through the garbage. It is recommended that the current Solid Waste Ordinance be reviewed and that the limit on what will and will not be picked up reconsidered. Perhaps a three year program should be looked into to update the total system to mobile toters throughout the City or at least City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 16 in each new subdivision. The City equipment can be retrofitted to accommodate the dumping of the toters. The following is a list of materials reviewed for the preparation of this report: 1. Ordinance No. 90-16 (personnel matters) 2. July 31, 1991 Memo - Sanitation 3. August 20, 1991 Memo - Solid Waste 4. December 12, 1991 Memo - Solid Waste Analysis 5. January 3, 1992 Memo - Solid Waste work session schedule for January 7, 1992 6. "Draft" Refuse Rate Analysis - PEC - February 1987 7. Resolution No. 88-17 - Replaced by Resolution No. 91-17 8. Ordinance No. 88-34 - replaced by Ordinance No. 91-29 9. Ordinance No. 89-20 10. Ordinance No. 90-07 11. Ordinance No. 90-14 12. Ordinance No. 840 8-6-85 13. Ordinance No. 10069-15-87 14. Recycling Grant Application 15. City of Ocoee 1991-1992 Annual Budget 16. Interlocal Agreement with Orange County for Solid Waste Management 17. IWS - Commercial Garbage Collection Franchise Agreement 18. Route schedules, Class I routes, and recycling routes City of Ocoee Solid Waste Management Audit Page 17 In conclusion, with all of the review and observation that was made during a four week period, we are unable to recommend one or two items that will allow a reduction of the fees that are being charged by the City of Ocoee. It is surprising that the problem is not worse or on a larger scale due to the continued operation while being under a deficit. There will be a four to five year program of very tight budget restraints and some type of adjustments on an annual basis to the rate structure so some type of equipment replacement fund can be established for the future. Also, the employees of the Solid Waste Division should be asked as to what their ideas are to improve the current system. Acknowledgement: We wish to express appreciation to the following staff members: Mr. Ray Brenner, Mr. Darrel Dees, Mrs. Judy Henry, Mrs. Teri Batts, Ms. Montye Beamer, Ms. Peggy Psaledakis, Mrs. Jean Grafton, Ms. Marian Green and Mr. Bruce C. Behrens, as their assistance in providing information and answering our many questions was invaluable. EXHIBIT I SPECIFIC ROUTE SCHEDULES Class I Collection Route #1: Monday-Thursday 633 customers Route #2: Monday-Thursday 673 customers Route #3: Monday-Thursday 682 customers Route #1: Tuesday- Friday 822 customers Route #2: Tu esday- Friday 810 customers Route #3: Tuesday- Friday 870 customers Recycling Route #1: Monday 976 customers Route #2: Tuesday 1,193 customers Route #3: Thursday 729 customers Route #4: Friday 1,246 customers