CITY VOTES TO RETAIN TRASH FIRMS.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - The City Council voted Tuesday to approve a new 10-year contract with the city's existing trash haulers, Santa Clarita/Blue Barrel Disposal and Atlas Consolidated. The 4-1 vote caps one of the most turbulent times in Santa Clarita's 13- year history as a city, and leaves the city government bitterly divided. Mayor Laurene Weste forcefully argued that the lucrative trash contract worth about $15 million should be awarded after a competitive bidding Competitive bidding A securities offering process in which securities firms submit competing bids to the issuer for the securities the issuer wishes to sell. competitive bidding 1. process. The new contracts with Blue Barrel and Atlas include plans for a materials recovery facility A materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility (MRF -- pronounced "murf") is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers. and a $15 rate for senior citizens, and allows independent companies to compete for temporary trash services. The political battle over the trash contracts has taken many twists and turns after heating up last month. A year ago, the City Council voted to negotiate a new agreement for its lucrative trash franchise with the city's current haulers, Blue Barrel and Atlas. Those negotiations, originally expected to take six months, lasted until February. Then Browning-Ferris Industries Browning-Ferris Industries, or "BFI", is a licensed trademark of Allied Waste Industries, a North America waste collection company. Many local units of Allied Waste are still known as BFI in the markets they serve. , which operates the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills, derailed the negotiations with a last-minute offer to cut rates by 20 percent, offer senior citizen discounts and give the city Elsmere Canyon. Six years ago, city officials and residents banded together to fight plans to build a massive dump in Elsmere Canyon, east of the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. interchange. Intrigued by the offer, the City Council postponed its decision to examine BFI's offer, a move denounced by the North Valley Coalition, a group of Granada Hills residents fighting BFI's plans to expand the Sunshine Canyon dump. While Santa Clarita's $22.13 rate is among the highest in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County, the city offers many recycling programs that others do not. The cost also includes a 10 percent franchise fee that finances road maintenance and administrative costs administrative costs, n.pl the overhead expenses incurred in the operation of a dental benefits program, excluding costs of dental services provided. . Dozens of Santa Clarita residents sang the praises of Blue Barrel, saying the company provided impeccable im·pec·ca·ble adj. 1. Having no flaws; perfect. See Synonyms at perfect. 2. Incapable of sin or wrongdoing. [Latin impecc service and never hesitated to help local charitable causes. ``They may take our money and give us a service, but they give back thousands of dollars in community support,`` said Barbara Sterns. Last week, City Manager George Caravalho told the City Council that local officials discovered in June that the amount of trash sent to landfills from Santa Clarita had skyrocketed. Santa Clarita officials, along with the California Integrated Waste Management Board, believe most of the trash was mistakenly attributed to Santa Clarita because of a reporting error. HOW THEY VOTED The Santa Clarita City Council voted Tuesday to approve a new 10-year contract with the city's current haulers, Santa Clarita/Blue Barrel Disposal and Atlas Consolidated. Yes: Jo Anne Darcy, Frank Ferry, Bob Kellar, Cameron Smyth Cameron Smyth is a Republican who has represented Califoria's 38th Assembly district since December of 2006. He succeeded Keith Richman who was term limited. Prior to being elected to the state legislature, Assemblyman Smyth served on the Santa Clarita City Council, where he No: Laurene Weste CAPTION(S): box Box: HOW THEY VOTED (See text) |
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