Title
Presentation By Sylvia Glazer, Director Of Public Works, On The Results Of The Commingled Collection Survey.
Body
Staff Recommends: Presentation
Explanation:
The City of Hollywood currently provides weekly commingled (bulky/brush) collection service to residents via a contract with Waste Pro USA, Inc. The City of Hollywood Public Works Department, working with the Office of Public Affairs initiated a Citywide survey to residents on commingled collection service to determine if the commingled collection needs are being met and gain input on the collection schedule and to obtain any additional comments regarding solid waste services received.
The survey was conducted during the month of March, 2015 and was distributed via email blast, the New Horizons, community meetings, the City website and at City events, etc.
A report, as attached, which details the survey results showed that out of the 422 citywide surveys received, that 382 respondents (approximately 90%) were in favor of keeping the current weekly commingled collection program; 34 respondents (approximately 8%) were in favor of changing the commingled collection to every two (2) weeks; 5 respondents (approximately 1 %) preferred monthly commingled collection, while one respondent preferred on demand commingled collection.
The majority of respondents indicated they were either “extremely satisfied” or “satisfied” with their respective commingled (bulky/brush) collection service. The majority of respondents also indicated that the commingled collection was either “always” or “usually” collected on schedule, and the majority of residents appear to understand the rules and regulations as well as their respective collection schedule.
There were also comments received regarding poor service as well as Code Enforcement violations observed such as early put outs and residents not following the regulations and City ordinances. This points to a need for service improvements as well as more resources in the Code Enforcement/Sanitation Code Enforcement arena.
Staff has met with Waste Pro USA, Inc. representatives to go over the results of the survey and have sent prior letters to Waste Pro noting areas in which their collection processes and customer service needed improvement. Subsequently, Waste Pro has taken several positive steps to improve their services including placing cameras on collection trucks, added an additional collection truck and driver, and have dedicated a customer service representative solely to the City of Hollywood. Additionally, they have conducted additional driver and supervisory training and have placed a new supervisor for the Hollywood contract.
Public Works staff is presently in the process of ordering refrigerator magnets Citywide for residents which will indicate their respective collection dates/times and what materials are acceptable and believe that this will help as a reminder to residents of the proper set out of materials and containers.
Public Works staff is working with Code Enforcement, the Public Works Sanitation officer and Waste Pro and have increased the enforcement efforts and public outreach pertaining to the commingled (bulky/brush) program and other refuse/recycling issues such as tagging illegal piles, leaving notices of deficiencies and violations and conducting follow-up outreach to residents to insure problems are addressed.
Per the results of the survey, Public Works staff does not recommend changing the current weekly commingled collection program at the present time. It is further recommended that the schedule and program be reexamined in another year with another corresponding survey to see if there have been any changes in preferences by residents. The commingled waste and refuse collection contract with Waste Pro is in effect for another four years and the City may wish to make changes to the program when the next commingled collection contract is developed.
Public Works is presently working with the City Attorney's office to determine the feasibility of changing the commercial hauler contracts and our code to require commingled collection in multi-family/apartments and condominium complexes, and what the anticipated impacts of this change would be.
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Dr. Wazir Ishmael, City Manager
Gus Zambrano, Assistant City Manager for Sustainable Development
Sylvia Glazer, Director, Public Works