Mayor proposes private garbage collection

Mayor Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi proposed Tuesday that the city join the parish and other municipalities within the parish to get a private garbage collector beginning in October.
The City Council met Tuesday in Morgan City.
Grizzaffi has been working on a sanitation plan to examine possibly exiting the garbage business and going to a private contractor, he said. The mayor has been in contact with the parish whose contract is coming up for renewal in October, he said.
Grizzaffi talked with leaders from surrounding municipalities to entertain the possibility of having the parish bid on a contract on behalf of all the municipalities in order to obtain a better rate and better service, he said.
“I believe over the last two years we’ve been trying our best,” Grizzaffi said. “Sometimes we’re handicapped with broken trucks, employees, and a personnel policy that isn’t beneficial to run a private business.”
The parish is aiming to start getting bids for a private garbage collector in May, and then the mayor would be able to take the bids before the City Council, he said. “We’re trying to put a bid out not just for the 7,000 cans in the city, but the parish is putting a bid out in excess of ... 30,000 cans.” That larger bid might be able to give the parish entities a better price, he said.
In 2013, the city purchased three refurbished side-loading garbage trucks, two 2004 models and one 2013 model. The city also kept one of the side-loading trucks it already had as a backup. Grizzaffi said the 2013 garbage truck is the only truck that is functioning properly, and the other three trucks are “limping.”
The sanitation department, as a whole, is not in as bad of shape as it had been but is losing less money now, the mayor said. “But the service is not up to par, and we’re trying our best,” Grizzaffi said. With the retirement of a city garbage truck driver coming up, no one is standing in line to take the job, he said.
The roughly $184,000 loss in the sanitation department for 2014 does not give the “big picture” because, on the sanitation side, there is not an hour-for-hour charge when the city repairs garbage trucks, Grizzaffi said. “We’re getting the trucks in there, and you may charge three hours, but we’ve got the trucks six, seven hours. And that might be part of the problem why our garage runs in a deficit,” Grizzaffi said.
The city must focus on how it will get to October to have city-run garbage collection, Grizzaffi said. “We need to be able to pick up the cans twice a week and be consistent, and right now we’re barely being able to do that,” the mayor said.
City Garage Supervisor Bubba Fase said the city could keep the trucks it has running while the city waits to possibly get a private garbage collector, but Fase needs assistance from the drivers. “They have to grease those machines. We can’t do it all,” Fase said. City mechanics repair the trucks when they come in, but they have other things to work on as well, Fase said. “If you got other trucks to try to carry us over, you’re looking at the same problem. They’re going to take that truck, and it’s going to get worn down,” Fase said.
“We can keep these trucks on the road. We just need help,” Fase said.
Councilman Louis Tamporello said the city should look for a maintenance person specifically to work on garbage trucks if the city is going to stay in the garbage collection business until October.
The city is short-handed with garbage truck drivers in addition to the time off those drivers take, Tamporello said. “We know you have trouble with things breaking down and everything so let’s get someone, if we have to,” he said. “At least if it’s greased and maintained, it may save us a little money down the line in repair.”
The city has not ever gotten the proper part-time employees put in place to grease and do whatever routine maintenance the trucks need, Tamporello said. “I suggest if we’re going to keep them rolling, try to keep them rolling, we need to put that plan in place like we talked about,” Tamporello said.
For a plan, such as the one Tamporello suggested, to work, that maintenance employee should report directly to the garage, Fase said. “This way, we can go check their work, and we can go get on them. If they’re not doing their job, we don’t need them,” Fase said.
In other business, the council:
—Voted to appoint Councilman Barry Dufrene as mayor pro-tem.
—Approved a bid tabulation in the amount of $587,000 for the city’s Upgrade of Headworks project.
—Authorized signature of the St. Martin Parish water contract to continue supplying water to Stephensville.
—Approved engaging Kolder, Champagne, Slaven and Company LLC for the city’s 2014 audit.
—Approved the city’s Systems Survey and Compliance Questionnaire.
—Approved an ordinance to waive the Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District permit fees relating to the cooperative endeavor agreement for the Port of Morgan City’s Governmental Emergency Operations Center.
—Approved allowing Henry Mangum 60 days to show progress to demolish a structure in the 200 block of Arizona Street.
—Approved a Class A liquor and beer permit for Michael Ruffin of Lolette’s Southern Soul Café.
—Appointed Marc Distefano, Terry Mayon, Bruce Bordelon, Bill Cefalu and Rob Radtke to the Fallen Warriors Memorial committee.