Jacksonville waste collection may get boost from $4 million of federal recovery money

The city of Jacksonville will try to get delay-plagued yard waste collections back on track by using $4 million of federal pandemic recovery money, but details of how the money would be used to turn around waste collection problems have not been finalized.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is asking City Council to tackle those problems by using a portion of the $172 million the city received this year from the American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed into law earlier this year.

The council's Finance Committee took the first step Tuesday toward putting $4 million toward waste collection services when it voted unanimously for a list of spending that would be covered by the federal pot of money.

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That long list includes $500,000 for Community Rehabilitation Center, the nonprofit organization run by City Council member Reggie Gaffney.

The Curry administration did not have any documentation explaining that grant at the time of the Finance Committee vote Tuesday morning.

If the full council agrees on Tuesday, it would be the second time in a year the city has directed federal COVID-19 related money to Community Rehabilitation Center.

In 2020, the city put $331,500 from the CARES Act into helping Community Rehabilitation Center deal financially with the pandemic.

The federal money for waste collection, billed as an  "emergency action" in the ordinance, comes after months of angry complaints from residents.

City Council member Michael Boylan said he wants the Curry administration to put the money to use quickly on getting waste collection improved.

"I hope Mr. Pappas is already planning on how to spend that money," Boylan said, referring to Public Works Director John Pappas, whose department encompasses the solid waste division.

"There are several solutions we are working on," Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Stephanie Burch told Boylan, "and as soon as we get all that worked out, that's what this funding will be used for."

Companies nationwide have faced difficulty hiring workers for waste collection, and those crew shortages have caused widespread delays in waste collection in Jacksonville and other cities and counties.

In Jacksonville, yard waste has sat in piles for weeks waiting for a truck and crew to pick it up from the side of the curb. The city has logged thousands of complaints from residents.

Finance Committee Chairman Ron Salem said he has had some "big picture" discussion with the Curry administration about how to apply the $4 million.

"Whatever dollars it's going to take, we need to spend," Salem said after the meeting. "We feel like the $4 million will be sufficient."

The city does curbside collection of regular garbage, recyclable items, yard waste and household appliances.

In addition to $4 million for emergency action on waste collection, the Curry administration also is seeking council backing for $4.55 million to offset the costs of a new contract with Meridian Waste Florida to pick up trash in portions of the Northside, Arlington and East Arlington.

Meridian takes over Oct. 1 from Republic Services, whose contract ends Sept. 30. Meridian won the contract when the city put it out for bid.

The list of spending approved by the Finance Committee also pencils in $2 million for COVID-19 testing, vaccination and other health services. That would come on top of $4 million council authorized for testing and vaccination centers when it voted in July on dividing up a separate $30 million portion of American Rescue Plan money.

The additional money will enable the city to extend how many months the testing and vaccination sites run by the city can stay in operation.

Jacksonville received nearly $172 million this year from the federal government and will get the same amount in a second helping of American Rescue Plan money next year. 

After approving expenditure of $30 million of this year's allocation earlier in the summer, the city will turn now to the remaining $141.8 million that would be topped by using $50 million for extending sewer service to septic tank neighborhoods.

Other big items are $19.5 million for road resurfacing, and $19.1 million for various "enhancements and expenditures" by city departments.

The ordinance does not break down the $19.1 million but it could include public safety communication equipment along with computer network upgrades and security measures, according to documents the administration presented when the legislation was filed.

Other items are $20 million for one-time "premium pay" awards to city employees and another $11 million for "premium pay" that employees will get as part of their pay raises. The city would use $4.72 million for supporting UF Health Jacksonville.

The proposal would send $3 million to Lift Jax for adding affordable housing options in the Eastside neighborhood and $1 million to Ability Housing to help provide supportive housing for chronically homeless people.

The proposal would send $1 million to Blue Zones so it can work on creating community health programs.

Rounding out the spending would be $500,000 for buying two emergency vehicle simulators that firefighters could use to train for driving such vehicles in emergency situations, $20,000 for Edward Waters University to buy four defibrillators, and $980,000 to Wheeler Emergency Management Consulting to help the city manage its use of American Recovery Plan money.