Miramar Passes on $750k Signing Bonus!

In these tough economic times, foregoing a $750k one-time payment is big news. But the Commissioners of Miramar realized that the stakes are high and that there was much more to the story. Miramar Public Works Director, Tom Good has been following this issue very closely and has a thorough understanding of the issues. Engaging the services of Value Added Consulting, LLC to conduct a detailed assessment of the risks and uncertainties of the proposed approach led the Miramar Commission to seek out alternative disposal options.

Value Added Consulting conducted an in-depth review of the proposed Interlocal Agreement and disposal service agreement on behalf of Miramar and found that there just wasn’t enough information to reasonably project the costs. The key issues were identified and explained at the November 29th Miramar Commission meeting. The report: “Review of Uncertainties Associated With the Broward Solid Waste Disposal District” provided a detailed review of these issues including:

• Financial statements of the District, including assets and liabilities were not determined and agreement reached with Broward County.
• Costs for managing the District were proposed to be reduced by over 60% from $30 per ton to $12 per ton with no explanation of how the decrease would be achieved.
• The disposal service agreement shifted a substantial level of risk to the District that could result in significant cost increases with no opportunity to terminate the agreement.

Value Added Consulting estimated that the disposal fee to Miramar and other communities could be anywhere from $65.19 to $140.02 per ton of waste disposed.

A number of other key concerns were identified including:

• County Approval of the ILA
• Effect of any future Change-in-Law
• Costs associated with new recycling contract
• Costs of proposed new programs
• Cost of District flow control enforcement
• Cost of Miramar flow control enforcement