Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Pop’s Sanitation Services, LLC – the private company that is proposing to provide voluntary curbside garbage pickup service in Jefferson County beginning on May 3 – now has a local office.
On Thursday evening, March 18, the Jefferson County Commission approved a lease giving Pop’s the use of a large portion of a county-owned building in the industrial park whose other tenant is Florida SafeRider, LLC, a motorcycle-training academy.
The 20-month lease, which extends from April 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2022, allows Pop’s to occupy 2,264 square feet of the building, plus grants the business the nonexclusive use of the pavilion and parking lot, for which the company will pay a total monthly fee of $1,043, including electricity.
The contract pretty much follows along the lines of the one that the commission approved for Florida SafeRider earlier the same evening, except for a few slight modifications.
The only questions about the agreement, which Commissioners Chris Tuten and J. T. Surles in particular championed, came from Phil Calandra, a citizen.
Calandra questioned why the seeming rush to rent the second half of the building?
“If we want to do what’s best for the county, why not advertise for other businesses?” Calandra asked.
To which Tuten responded that Tommy Hardee, owner of Pop’s Sanitation, was ready to create jobs, which is a prime consideration of economic development proponents.
Calandra also questioned some of the contract’s language, saying it was extraneous to the nature of the operation and could also pose problems for the county down the line.
He argued that the contract should include a termination-for-convenience clause, which would allow either party to exit the agreement for sundry reasons.
“To terminate for convenience doesn’t mean that you do it on a whim,” Calandra said. “To me, it means that if the client is not behaving properly, you can get out of the contract. It’s a safety valve so that you don’t get stuck. It’s a two-way swing door. It’s not a bad thing, as it’s being portrayed.”
However, County Attorney Scott Shirley, who drafted the agreement, disagreed, saying that such a clause could lead to instability and make it difficult for a business to secure the necessary bank financing.
Hardee, for his part, said he was ready to start his business, absent any “drama.” Already, he said, he had hired three individuals, and his aim was still to begin the service on May 1.
The commission, meanwhile, has yet to approve the franchise agreement that has been under consideration for months and that would give Pop’s the exclusive right to provide the curbside garbage pickup in the county.
Hardee first approached the commission with his request in September, and ever since, the county attorney has been in the process of developing an appropriate Request for Proposals document that satisfies the commission.
Hardee’s business model calls for the operation eventually to have five trucks and 13 employees, including office staff.
“We’re looking at a $600,000 payroll when it’s all done,” Hardee told the Monticello News earlier, noting that the stated amount included office staff and all equipment.