City Council Accepts Solid Waste Contract

The East Tawakoni City Council on Tuesday approved an amended contract with Duncan Disposal that will reflect increases in commercial dumpster costs.

The Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Disposal Contract, which the council had approved at its May meeting, was presented again with a couple of changes.

City secretary Patsy Marshall explained that when she forwarded the contract approved at the May meeting to Duncan Disposal, Duncan representative Woodie Brantley contacted her. Marshall said Brantley indicated Duncan had made a mistake on the franchise fee in the contract, as the rates shown were only discussed with no franchise fee.

The only franchise fee that had been discussed with then-mayor Mark Himelright had been a 5 percent franchise fee, not the previous 10 percent franchise fee.

Himelright said at the time he and Brantley were looking at all the options and "it was quite possible that the prices he agreed to had eliminated the franchise fee."

"At any rate, the contract needs to be reconsidered with the changes in the franchise fee and the higher prices," Himelright said.

He said he felt that even with the higher rates, the rates are still lower than the city could get if the entire contract was let out for bids and he recommended the extension to the contract with Duncan Disposal.

Marshall said the residential rates had not been increased above the price set last month, as that rate would still cover the cost charged by Duncan. She said the commercial dumpster rates need to be set higher in order to cover that increased cost.

Marshall also said all commercial dumpster customers had been contacted and informed of the higher charges in order to give them an opportunity to make any changes they might want to make in light of the change.

Also in Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved the first pay estimate from Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors for $226,638.65, which represents 54 percent of the contracted amount.

Mike Donnan of Hayter Engineering Inc. asked if at least 50 percent of the work had been completed, said, "It is more like 75 percent of completion."

"The tower is erected and in place, it will be painted and will be complete itself. There is still some dirt work and connections that need to be done but this payment is well below the completion stage of the tower," Donnan said.

As for the status of the line replacement project and whether or not the tower will be operable by the required timeframe, Donnan said the contracts have been approved by the city and the contractor and have been sent to Austin for approval by Texas Water Development Board.

"Once their (TWDB) approval is received, an order to proceed will be issued to Whitewater Construction and their first work will be the lines connected to the new water tower and should be completed just around the deadline," he said.

Donnan also said if a few extra days are needed, they could be granted due to weather delays.

The council learned the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting the city’s request to prepare a proper designated parking space and a ramp to make it accessible for wheelchairs getting into the city office building.

The city still needs to provide them the timeline for completing these improvements.

Council member Tamera McLaughlin said she knows a man who does this type of work for other government buildings and will let Marshall know his number in order to get a bid from him for the ramp work. The city will also welcome other bids, Marshall said.

The council voted to respond to the Office of Rural Community Affairs with the plan on the parking space and ramp.