YORBA LINDA : City Approves New Recycling Contract

Everyone was talking trash at this week’s City Council meeting.

The city approved an agreement with Taormina Industries Inc. that would extend its contract, adopt a recycling program and adjust monthly rates--but not before residents questioned some of its provisions.

“I think the service we have is great,” resident Todd Tande said, but added, “I think extending the contract for 20 years is excessive.”

Though the agreement is automatically renewed for 20 years under a so-called evergreen provision, the city can terminate it within 30 days if service is not satisfactory. Under the latest renewal, recycling pickups will increase to once a week from twice a month, Assistant City Manager David Gruchow said, and projected increases in recycling will save ratepayers $2.8 million over 10 years.

Some questioned whether the long-term agreement, which provides the company with the guaranteed cash flow to expand its business, amounts to a subsidy on the part of Yorba Linda ratepayers.

“I would ask you to eliminate the evergreen clause, to end the subsidization by commercial users, to shorten the life of the notices that have to be given for contract non-renewal and to furthermore put this contract out to bid on the open market,” resident Louie Scull said.

Councilman John Gullixson argued, however, that the city would be unlikely to get a better rate through an open bid and that, as the company grows and increases its economy of scale, “their cheaper costs translate into a cheaper cost for the ratepayer.”