Palm Coast, Florida, declares Waste Pro in breach of contract

Waste Pro of Florida Inc. is currently facing a breach of contract notice from the city of Palm Coast, Florida, for its noncompliance with the current contract for residential solid waste and disposal services.

The written notice, submitted to the company on May 26, advised Waste Pro that it has seven days to resolve the breach, which includes failing to provide the contractually required services.

As reported by the Palm Coast Observer, Waste Pro has informed city staff that the issues with collection range from a lack of employees to not having enough hours in the day.

"The collection lately has been at unacceptable levels and we will not sit idly by and let this continue. It is a priority to provide quality service to our residents and Waste Pro is now on notice that the service level must increase, or further action will follow,” said Palm Coast City Manager Matthew Morton.

The city says it has repeatedly notified Waste Pro over the past year of deficient services and worked to remedy issues related to missed collections above the allowable limits, missed routes, streets and neighborhoods, routes not being completed daily, and failure to have adequate personnel to perform the services contractually required.

The city of Palm Coast has fined Waste Pro a total of $29,280 from Jan. 1, 2021, through May 25, 2021, for its failure to comply with the terms of the contract with the city, reports the Palm Coast Observer.

Additionally, city staff have been assigned to inspect daily routes to ensure that waste collections are completed and to document the areas that were missed or incomplete.

At least 4,565 complaints have been submitted over the past six-months, even after an April 1st memorandum was received by the city from Waste Pro's vice president indicating that service would return to satisfactory levels.

To solve this issue, the city is seeking out additional haulers in the event that Waste Pro is not able to resolve the breach in the allotted seven-day time frame. If Waste Pro does not sufficiently correct the issues, according to the Palm Beach Observer, the city has the contractual right to terminate the contract with Waste Pro.