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U.S. Department of Labor

Zephyrhills eyeing automated garbage collection

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Automated garbage collection may soon be a reality in Zephyrhills.

The city contracted with Kessler Consulting Inc. to perform an operational waste assessment and rate study for the city’s Sanitation Division.

Don Ross, director of operations for Kessler, presented the findings to the Zephyrhills City Council on Oct. 10.

Ross suggested the city — at some point — should consider moving toward automated trash pickup, which involves equipping city waste trucks with an automated arm to pick up and dump the contents of waste containers into the truck.

Cost estimates range from $15,000 to $20,000 for retrofitting two of the city’s existing trucks with automated rear load cart tippers. Additional side load and front load cart tippers may also be purchased.

The trash barrels, or standardized solid waste carts, would likely be provided to city residents, costing the city about $50 to $55 apiece.

Public works director Shane Leblanc said the city plans on providing 95-gallon solid waste carts and 64-gallon recycling carts to residents in the next fiscal year, once the city adopts a “hybrid” or “semi-automated” waste disposal approach.

“Our intent is to outfit some of our existing trucks to pick up the carts,” LeBlanc said. “We’ll have a mechanism on the back of the truck called a cart tipper, where the collection workers wheel the cart out, hook it up to the cart tipper and the cart tipper does all the manual work.”

If approved, city manager Steve Spina said semi-automated waste disposal would be phased in throughout the city.

“Some of the subdivisions would probably start with (automation) and then we could move into other areas,” Spina said.

During the presentation, Ross said automated collection provides several benefits, including a decreased risk of injury for sanitation workers.

“It improves safety, reduces employee injuries, improves collection efficiencies and preserves an aging workforce,” Ross said.

The U.S. Department of Labor ranks the solid waste industry as the “fifth-most dangerous occupation,” trailing only loggers, fisherman, pilots and roofers.

Last year, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) reported 98 fatalities directly related to municipal solid waste collection, processing and disposal.

“This is a very, very dangerous industry,” said Ross, addressing the council.

Additionally, a transition to automated waste collection could result in major savings for the city.

The city’s annual operational cost for manual garbage collection is nearly $406,000. A cost analysis by the consulting company found the city could save nearly $88,000 per year shifting to automated collection, mostly by eliminating sanitation positions.

“The biggest savings is payroll,” said Ross.

Council Vice President Alan Knight said he’d first want a guarantee that there wouldn’t be any job losses among city employees, before a motion is made.

“I don’t want anybody to lose their jobs,” Knight said.

LeBlanc reassured the council that there wouldn’t be any job losses related to a transition to automated waste collection.

“We have no intent of anybody losing their jobs,” LeBlanc said, adding “we have all kinds of stuff for them to do out there.”

Elsewhere, Kessler Consulting’s operational waste assessment found the city’s sanitation division is a “well-run, cohesive operation.”

Moreover, the assessment found the sanitation division to have “high employee morale” and all equipment to be in “good working order.”

However, the consulting company suggested the city should perform a route and billing audit; focus more on route optimization and planning; and cross train drivers.

Kessler Consulting also recommended no additional rate increases for waste disposal service.

The city’s residential rate— including Pasco County’s disposal assessment— is $16.33 per household per month while commercial monthly rates (per cubic yard) are $6.49.

In other business, the city council unanimously approved the contract for Matthew E. Maggard to become the city attorney for the City of Zephyrhills. The contract requires the city to pay a minimum fee of $700 per month as a retainer. Attorney services are rendered at $125 per hour, and staff services are $50 per hour. Maggard, 31, is an attorney with the law firm of Hersch & Associates, P.A., in Dade City. He’s been serving the city in an interim role since Joseph A. Poblick stepped down from the position in July to serve on the Pasco County Court.

Published Oct. 19, 2016

 

Florida’s unemployment rate slips, but still mostly flat

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Florida’s unemployment rate has slipped a bit in September, bringing it to its lowest point since June 2008, but still remaining mostly flat since last December.

The rate, according to Gov. Rick Scott’s office, was 6.1 percent in September, down from 6.3 percent in August. That was the result of 12,800 new private-sector jobs in the month, but the percentage of unemployed people is still larger than the rest of the nation.

The rate peaked at 11.4 percent in late 2009 and early 2010, while Gov. Charlie Crist was still in office. It was during the same time as a national economic crisis, which Florida was particularly hit hard because of its dependence on homebuilding and tourism — which suffered during the economic downturn.

However, that rate started to drop in April 2010, and was down to 10.9 percent when Scott took office in 2011. The rate would then not drop below 7 percent until September 2013, and has essentially remained flat at around 6.3 percent since last December.

The rate is still significantly higher than what it was in 2006, where the rate hovered around 3.3 percent.

In August, Florida’s unemployment rate was ranked 26th in the nation, tied with Arkansas and Missouri, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Georgia that month had the worst rate at 8.1 percent, while North Dakota could be statistically labeled as “fully employed” with a 2.8 percent rate.

Of the top five most populous states, with Florida ranked fourth with 19.6 million people, California was ranked 44th nationally in August with a 7.4 percent rate, New York was ranked 29th at 6.4 percent, Texas ranked 16th at 5.3 percent, and Illinois ranked 36th at 6.7 percent.

The governor’s office did point out other positive trends in the economy, including a 33.7 percent backlog reduction in existing homes on the market since December 2011, as well as a 2.9-percent increase in home prices in August compared to the previous year.

In September, Florida’s 24 regional work force boards reported more than 43,800 people were placed in jobs. This number is based on those who seek employment and training assistance through the center and finds a job with 180 days. Of that number, nearly 9,400 of them had been receiving unemployment benefits.

Gas prices still recovering from Labor Day weekend

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Gas prices are still trying to come down after the expected bump during Labor Day weekend, but that hasn’t stopped gas prices from being the lowest still since 2010 as September gets under way.

And prices could get better, especially with federal employment levels lower than expected.

“Demand typically eases going into the fall, but a high jobless report causes speculation that demand for gasoline may be even lower,” said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA-The Auto Club Group, in a release. “This report, combined with easing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and refineries beginning to switch from summer to winter blend fuels, all continue to place downward pressure on what is already unseasonably low gas prices.”

That trend, as Jenkins has shared before, could mean gas cheaper than $3 a gallon before the end of the year.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported last week that 142,000 new jobs were created in August, lowering the national unemployment rate slightly to 6.1 percent. While that is a positive growth in jobs, it was lower than analysts had expected.

Oil prices took a hit this past week as well, with a barrel of oil selling for $93.29 on Friday, a drop of $2.67 from the previous week. That is a seven-month low for crude.

The average gallon of gas in Florida was $3.36 on Sunday, down a penny from $3.37 a week ago, and 3 cents from a month ago. It’s 19 cents lower than what it was a year ago, however, AAA reported.

“Some markets are seeing more expensive gasoline compared to last week,” Jenkins said. “Much of that has to do with demand jumping during the Labor Day weekend, causing lower supplies and higher prices. It is possible that prices could inch up toward the middle of the month as refineries prepare to switch to the cheaper-to-produce winter blend gasoline on Sept. 15, but prices usually fall through the remainder of the year.”

The cheapest gas in Land O’ Lakes on Sunday night was $3.19 at the Mobil station on State Road 52 near the Suncoast Parkway, according to GasBuddy. The Shell station at State Road 54 and State Road 56 was listed as the most expensive at $3.37.

Wesley Chapel had some cheaper gas, found once again at Sam’s Club on State Road 56 near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, where prices were reported at $3.17. Four locations — including a Shell station, 7-Eleven, Hess and Mobil — had gas prices at $3.37.

In Lutz, prices ranged from $3.21 at the Circle K on Van Dyke and Old Tobacco roads, to $3.39 at two Shell stations — one on Van Dyke near Lakeshore Drive, the other at North Dale Mabry Highway at Van Dyke.

Gas prices in Zephyrhills were found from $3.22 at a Mobil station on State Road 54 near Allen Road, to $3.34 at a Citgo on Gall Boulevard and Chancey Road. The cheapest gas in Dade City was $3.25 at three locations — Raceway, Marathon and Clark — while the most expensive, according to GasBuddy, was found at the Chevron station on Fort King Road and Clinton Avenue for $3.31.