No-Bid Garbage Deal Savings Elusive
BY BUDDY NEVINS
The no-bid $1 billion Wheelabrator waste disposal contract has holes in it big enough to drive a garbage truck through.
Details contained in the deal could wipe out any savings taxpayers are promised.
Lieberman supports no-bid deal
Cities were told that they would get approximately a one-third cut in disposal fees and a signing bonus for the deal.
In return for cutting the fees, Wheelabrator gets to dispose of Broward’s waste for the next 10 years with a 10 year renewal.
Reading the agreement, I found:
*All taxes are paid by taxpayers and not Wheelabrator. The only exception are corporate income taxes.
*Higher costs from any new federal or state laws are passed on to taxpayers if they cause “reduced revenues of Wheelabrator during the life of the contract 10 years with a 10 year renewal.
*New capital, maintenance and operating costs– up to 40 percent — are automatically passed on to taxpayers. You are reading that right 40 percent a year!
It is no wonder that a consulting study for Fort Lauderdale stated that any promised savings could be elusive.
“The total tip fee in the new agreement remains a moving target, as does the inception date, states the consultant in a memo dated Dec. 8.
The no-bid deal was negotiated between Weston Mayor Eric Hersh and Wheelabrator earlier this year.
Hersh was acting at the direction of the Resource Recovery Board and County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, the Board’s chairwoman.
Before negotiations with Wheelabrator started, the Board decided not to take bids although many firms had shown interest in disposing of Broward’s garbage. My pal Scott Wyman in the Sun-Sentinel today said other companies interested include Bergeron Environmental & Recycling, Southern Waste Systems and Waste Services of Florida.
Wheelabrator, with one plant south of Interstate 595 in Davie and another east of Coconut Creek along Florida’s Turnpike, has already had the contract for over 20 years.
“That’s 40 years of no-bid deals. It doesn’t make sense, said Commissioner Suzanne Boisvenue of Oakland Park on Tuesday.
Lieberman is conducting a full court lobbying blitz to get the no-bid agreement passed.
It leads me to wonder why this deal is getting pushed through so quickly.
January 4th, 2010 at 10:57 am
You provide some interesting points that I am trying to find resolve. I don’t know if I will ever get the answers we need, but I do know that when such large sums of money are in play, a lot of assistance given is bias to a point of view that favors one over another. It may be right, but it is a difficult call.
Getting independent/unbiased advice is almost impossible. And if you do what you believe is right at the time, it may turn out to be wrong. Heaven help you then.
January 4th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Ilene Lieberman solid waste director Ron Greenstein have in common that they are both lobbyists. We can’t trust anything they say because they always could have a client lurking somewhere. This is why we need ethics laws forbidding Lieberman and Greenstein from profiting from thier office.
January 4th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
This , and further investigation, should be the major news stories instead of the nonsense printed by the Slantinal. However, I will point out that, at least in that pic, that hair is ridiculous.
January 5th, 2010 at 5:34 am
“Anybody wonder why Lieberman is so interested?”
Maybe this is the best deal possible, or maybe it isn’t. You don’t make the case either way and your insinuation that Ms. Lieberman has some nefarious reason for supporting this deal is cheap sensationalism.
January 5th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Cheap sensationalism? It there such a thing as expensive sensationalism?
January 5th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
1. It was the largest NO Bid Contract in Florida
2. The reduction is because the bonds are going away
3. The cities will hav eto raise the franchise rate to make up for HUGE money losses
4.The Resource Recovery Board is Scam
5. Greenstien a registered lobbist in Coconut Creek and the GARBAGE CRIME BOSS had his contract approved by no other than a city commissioner in Coconut creek..hmmmm
6. It is a pay back to Waste Mgt by Broward Commissioners…Waste will receive a 50 million a year for running the facilty plus FPL Grid Money that nobody knows about.
7. Who own the land?
8. Who owns the structure on the land
9. Will Hersh be paid back with Broward Commissioners helping hime win Libermans seat
10. How much does the Greenstien make per year?
11. How many Broward County WRS positions pay more than 100k?
12. Residents will be screwed but the POLITICIANs POCKETS WILL GET FAT from this DEAL(Scam)