For more than six months, commissioners have talked about FCC Environmental, saying the company is failing to pick up garbage on time from too many households they’re contractually obligated to serve.

There’s been no resolution, and patience has worn thin.

“We can talk all day, but that’s not going to fix the problem,” Polk County Commissioner Rick Wilson said at Tuesday’s meeting. “If we’ve gotta spend more money to take care of this, that’s what we need to do. I’m tired of hearing that nothing is being done.”

So the staff of the Western Placer Waste Management Agency rammed down a contract for the ethically challenged FCC Environmental. FCC was found guilty of corruption in Spain, has had multiple fatalities at facilities and multiple fines for failing to control odors at facilities. They were even debarred by the International Monetary Fund for 2 years due to their issues.

Polk County Florida should be a wake up call. However, it has been the experience that government bureaucrats rarely reverse bad decisions. That is especially true in the WPWMA as it appears there was more than it appeared on the surface.

The commission did more than talk Tuesday — they took action that’s typically reserved for hurricanes and other natural disasters. They declared the matter a “local state of emergency.”

County Attorney Randy Mink said all of the garbage left by the roadside in neighborhoods for days and weeks beyond the scheduled pick-up day has risen to the point where it endangers the public health, safety, and welfare of Polk residents.

With the designation, County Manager Bill Beasley can move toward a solution without needing to renegotiate the contract with the company, avoiding a potentially prolonged process. He can also do whatever he needs to do immediately, without board approval.

It appears that Polk County fears being sued by FCC if they terminate the bad contract early so they declared a state of emergency over the abject failures of FCC to try to get some control over the situation.

Here are some options that have been discussed:

• Strip FCC Environmental of some of its duties, such as recycling, yard waste, or bulk pick-up, so it can concentrate exclusively on household waste.

“Household garbage has to be the only priority for a while,” Commissioner Bill Braswell said Tuesday. “I don’t give a damn about anything except household waste. That’s what people are mad about. Just let them go pick up household waste and get back on schedule. Make the complaints go away.”

• Bring in another company to help cover FCC’s routes.

FCC clearly can not handle the contract it got in Polk County Florida and the article I am citing is from 2-16-2022!

The county sent a news release Tuesday afternoon that provided a general overview of what a “local state of emergency” declaration allows the manager to do. It includes:

• Utilize all available resources of the county government as reasonably necessary to cope with the emergency.

• Acquire merchandise, equipment, vehicles, or property needed to alleviate the emergency.

County leaders have said they have no intention to fire FCC, which is under contract through 2024. That action would likely result in litigation.

So Polk county is going to have to spend a ton of money buying vehicles to do FCC’s job for them!

Here is the clincher – while people complain about labor shortages, FCC went and got another contract in a neighboring county!

But if the problem for FCC is related to a shortage of staff or trucks, Combee wonders how the company was able to bid for a contract in Polk’s larger neighbor, Hillsborough County.

“Things have gone to hell in a hurry since that contract with Hillsborough County was signed,” he said. “It’s gone from bad to worse.”

In an email to Beasley on Wednesday morning, Combee said, “We know that equipment is available for purchase and qualified people can be hired by looking at the new contract FCC started in Hillsborough County 16 days ago. Inability to get trucks and drivers is a bad excuse.”

Meanwhile, many residents of unincorporated Polk County are eager to see their trash picked up on schedule.

Amy Whann, who lives in unincorporated Lakeland, told the commission Tuesday that her trash had not been picked up in more than a week. She pays $206 a year for a service she can’t rely on.

I am still wondering what went on behind closed doors between FCC and the staff of the WPWMA.