By Margie Doyle
On Monday, July 29, San Juan County Solid Waste Program Administrator Sam Gibboney is slated to officially notify the County Council that key contract issues have been resolved regarding the Orcas Solid Waste Facility with Orcas Recycling Services (ORS). In its Staff Report dated July 22, county staff states that notice of the completion of contract negotiations will be provided to the County Council through Frank Mulcahy, Public Works Department Director, and the Council will be requested to set a date for a public hearing.
The Council will act on this recommendation at its regular Administration Meeting tomorrow, Monday, July 29. The staff report of June 18, 2013 from Mulcahy and Gibboney states that the Council “may choose to schedule a public hearing to consider the contracts as early as August 6, 2013.”
The Council meeting for this “second touch” on the ORS solid waste contract is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. In addition to the ORS contract, the Council will discuss the recent fires on Orcas Island and substandard housing statement for the Opportunity Council before the county’s legislative body adjourns at about noon.
The County Council selected ORS as a private vendor to provide solid waste handling services at the Orcas Transfer Station last November. The non-profit ORS is more familiarly known by the name of its recycling center, The Exchange. Recycling services are planned for future development, once the transfer station is operated by ORS.
The term of the county agreement with ORS is five years with the possibility of renewal in five year increments up to a total of twenty years.
The agreement allows ORS use of Parcels A, B, and D at the Orcas Island Transfer Station. Parcel C is retained for use by San Juan County Public Works.
The agreement requires that ORS engage and retain the use of a reputable solid waste consulting firm for a period no less than nine months from the date of this agreement.
The agreement stipulates an annual rent of $8,500.
The agreement provides for the establishment of a surety deposit account in lieu of a performance bond. The initial deposit will be $50,000 with additional quarterly deposit until the required $150,000 is reached.
Contract negotiations, which the Council authorized the Public Works Department to finalize in June, have also provided for:
- solid waste handling permit
- stormwater discharge permit
- operating hours
- certificated hauler
- environmental indemnification and hold harmless
- insurance
- improvements
- enforcement authority
- rates
Technical specifications are appended to the agreement and include an operations plan and a capital improvement plan. These plans have been reviewed by Public Works, are substantially complete and drafts are included. These documents will be further refined before the commencement of operations by ORS.
Prior to entering into a contract with a vendor, the council must make written findings, after holding a public hearing on the proposal, that it is in the public interest to enter into the contract, that the contract is financially sound, and that it is advantageous for the county to use this method for awarding contracts compared to other methods.
To read the documents which the Council will consider, go to https://sanjuanco.com/council/displayagenda.aspx#home and click on the folder on the fourth bullet: DISCUSSION & UPDATES WITH DEPARTMENTS Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) Contract (2nd touch); Update on Orcas Fires
I as many people are wondering about a few questions regarding the above contract.I know I may get back lash from these questions, however I feel they need to be asked.
1. The question of employees paid “under the table” from the exchange.The so called back taxes owed on employees. How does the county feel about this?
2. This is a huge project, one that will work in the thousands of dollars. Is the Exchange capable of taking over such a large operation when the questionable act of their pay practices is in question?
3. Why has the time come and gone that the Exchange was to take over the project and has still not done so. I asked before where will the money to revise the dump back up to standards, I still have the same question. I am told that private money and grants. Can someone tell the public who the donors are and what grants we are talking about?
I was happy to see the Exchange take over this project, then the “accidental fire” happened. why is the transfer taking so long? what is really going on? Why is the discussion not brought to the table about these things. I am wondering why only a few are asking these question and are not willing to ask the right people. I am asking these questions to put out there what many want to know. also is there a place where the public can go to read the contract from the county to the Exchange?
Hi Melissa,
I’m sure many people have similar questions. It’s critically important to make the distinction between the transfer station, which has been and still is run by the County, and The Exchange recycling site, which has been run by the non-profit Orcas Recycling Services (ORS).
When the County opened the bid process up, ORS successfully bid to operate the transfer station . They have been negotiating for the contract to run this waste disposal operation, and now have completed a contract that will go before the Council and, if the Council gives the go-ahead, to a public hearing. As stated in the article, you can read the full contract by going to the county site, clicking on Council, agenda and opening the folder that gives the contract as well as other documents.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in earlier articles in Orcas Issues, before The Exchange recycling site can be re-built or re-located, the non-profit ORS needs to establish the revenue stream once it takes over operations from the county: they have engaged employees and contracted with Orcas Freight for trucking and are ready to go — they just need Council and public approval.
No transfer station employees were paid under the table — as County employees, they were paid by the County. The Exchange, as a non-profit recycling center, operated with volunteers. Moving forward, the ORS transfer station employees will be paid by the ORS. How the non-profit will operate a “new” Exchange (it may well be re-named the Phoenix) has yet to be determined.
With the approval of the pending contract the waste disposal transfer station, as well as the recycling/resource center The Exchange will be “married” as the two main services provided by Orcas Recycling Services. Again, the transfer station provides revenue for the expenses incurred by ORS.
But for now, the marriage will have to be in name only, until ORS can start using the funds provided by the waste disposal transfer station, to rebuild or relocate The Exchange recycling/resource site. As a non-profit, ORS may receive grants from government or private funding; the fees involved in the operation of the transfer station will be the main “building block” for funding future operations such as The Exchange.
In the last several years, we have had many of the same questions you ask, Melissa. The answers to many of them have been provided by “the right people,” from the ORS board to the transfer station selection committee to the County Council to Frank Mulcahy and Sam Gibboney. May we suggest you just type in “The Exchange” in the Orcas Issues search bar in the upper left-hand corner of the site and review the articles, as well as information on the County website.
Thanks for being an involved, questioning Orcas citizen!
Margie Doyle, Editor, Orcas Issues, News and Views
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your interest and concern. It has been a confusing and drawn out process–many months longer (and way more work!) than anyone on the ORS Board imagined.
Margie answered your concerns as well as I could have. If you have any more questions feel free to contact me anytime.
To stay up to date on what’s going on, check in with our website exchangeonorcas.org and our facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Exchange/
Thanks,
Pete Moe ORS/Exchange board president
Thank you so much for helping. I am glad I asked.