JULY 2017 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
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Boca Raton officials to discuss possibly privatizing garage pick up services lenging to hire qualified mechanics for the work the city needs to be done.
By: Marisa Herman Associate Editor Boca Raton is considering privatizing its garbage collection services.
He said to reconfigure the complex would cost between $8-10 million. Or, he said, the city would have to acquire at least 10 acres of land to build a new facility. He estimated that would cost between $15-21 million.
During a recent city workshop meeting, director of Boca’s municipal services Dan Grippo told city council members that the city is growing and the city is having a hard time keeping up when it comes to collecting trash.
“We are bursting at the seams,” Councilman Andrea O’Rourke said. “Clearly we need to do something for space. There is a cost to growth.”
This year he said the city has more than $200,000 in overtime charges to keep up with demand. So he proposed three options for the council to consider. Those options include keeping the service in-house, but with an expansion of the city’s municipal complex, privatizing residential pick up or privatizing residential and commercial trash collection. He said the council will need to make a decision sooner than later because the city’s contract with Waste Management, which services the area by the Town Center Mall that was annexed into the city, is set to expire September 2018. He said that contract has been extended as many times as allowed and the city would have to add routes to take over collection of the area.
He said with the city’s population growing as well the city will have to add more routes as well. In addition to adding more routes, he said the city’s municipal complex is too small for the city’s fleet and maintenance needs. “We are very cramped on space,” he said. He said maintenance on the city’s fleet takes time and is costly. Sometimes the repairs have to be sent out to be fixed, he said. He added that city often finds it chal-
To resolve some of the spacing issues and the overtime, he said the council should also consider privatizing the service. He said that option would likely save residents money. Currently, residents in single-family homes are charged $16.90 per month for collection services. Multi-family residents are charged $10.25 per month. Council members said they are open to considering privatizing residential garage collection. They asked city staff to come back with some more financial information before making a decision.
FPL strengthens the electric grid serving Boca as part of 2017 reliability and storm preparedness efforts Staff report Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) continues to upgrade its system in the Boca Raton area as part of its ongoing work to strengthen the power grid and improve service reliability. Company investments, which include strengthening power lines and power poles, trimming trees around power lines and installing smart grid technology, help make the grid more reliable day-today and more storm-resilient. “We continue to build a stronger and smarter electric grid to provide our customers with reliable service yearround,” Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL said. “Our ongoing investments in strengthening the electric grid and utilizing advanced smart grid technology help us deliver electricity our customers can count on in good weather and bad. This was never more evident than during last year’s hurricane season.” FPL’s investments to the grid were tested last year during Hurricane Matthew and demonstrated its benefits to customers. FPL restored 99 percent of customers affected by Hurricane Matthew by the end of two full days of restoration following the hurricane’s exit from its service area. Smart grid automated switches on FPL’s system prevented 118,000 customer
interruptions, and strengthened main power lines performed 30 percent better than non-strengthened main power lines. Furthermore, no FPL transmission poles and hardened main power line poles failed. For everyday reliability, strengthened power lines perform approximately 40 percent better than lines that have not been strengthened, which improves reliability and speeds restoration efforts during severe weather such as afternoon summer thunderstorms. 2017 improvements in the Boca Raton area When the planned 2017 work is completed, FPL will have made the following improvements in and near Boca Raton since 2006:
Strengthened 13 main power lines, including those that serve all critical and community services, such as Boca Raton Community Hospital, West Boca Medical Center, City of Boca Raton Emergency Operations Center and a water treatment plant, which are necessary for communities to recover after a storm; Cleared tree branches and vegetation — a major cause of power outages — from 157 miles of power lines every year, and more than 1,725 miles since 2006; Inspected all 10,406 power poles every eight years, strengthening or replacing those that no longer meet the company’s standards for strength; Installed smart grid technology, including 54 automated switches on main power lines and 472 automated switches
on smaller power lines serving neighborhoods, to help detect problems and restore service faster when outages occur; and Inspected 114 main power lines and equipment using infrared technology to detect issues before they cause a power interruption. “FPL has the most reliable service of any investor-owned energy company in Florida, but we are never satisfied,” Manny Miranda, senior vice president of power delivery for FPL said. “We’re working hard every day to provide our customers within the Boca Raton area with electric service they can count on. This includes several new projects in the area, such as the community thoroughfare along North Federal Highway.”