Ocala council workshop reviews solid-waste operations, recycling costs and compactor policy

Ocala public works officials reviewed the city’s solid-waste collection, recycling program and recent equipment purchases during a May 13 City Council work session, and council members asked staff to prepare a formal policy to protect private haulers’ existing compactor accounts.

The presentation, delivered by Darren Park, public works director, summarized current contracts, service levels and costs for commercial and residential sanitation and recycling. Park said the city’s disposal contract with GFL runs from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2025, and that the city will issue an invitation to bid for a new disposal contract in the next two days. He summarized tonnage, account counts and recent investments, noting the council previously approved compactors and trucks for the city’s sanitation fleet.

Why it matters: City staff framed sanitation as both a core service and a source of operational flexibility — handling storm-debris collection, downtown dumpster cleanup and special-event support. Council members expressed interest in ensuring the city’s new compactor capability does not unfairly displace longstanding private haulers and asked staff to return with a written approach.

Park told council the city handled 62,564 tons of solid waste last year: about 43,475 tons from commercial accounts and about 19,089 from residential accounts. He said the sanitation division serves 30,357 accounts citywide (12,972 commercial, 17,385 residential) and operates roughly 2,470 dumpsters in the field. Residential sanitation serves about 17,385 single-family homes and 514 businesses that use carts; residential rates currently are $26.18 per month for single-family accounts and $18.94 for multifamily accounts.

On recycling, Park said the current contract with Waste Pro (effective in 2018 and good through 2028) covers about 25,886 accounts and cost the city about $1.53 million last year (roughly $4.93 per account). He warned that contamination is a constant problem: the city’s composition audits have shown contamination rates ranging from about 18 percent (October 2021) to 41.6 percent (March 2025). "If it's not on there, please don't put it in there," Park said, urging residents to avoid uncertain items that can damage sorting machinery and increase costs.

Park explained recycling markets remain volatile: glass currently has little market value, plastics are low-value compared with metal, and markets shifted after China tightened contamination thresholds. He said the city’s contract requires a minimum of 3,800 tons of recyclables per year, and last year curbside recycling collected about 3,300 tons — leaving the city contractually liable for the shortfall.

Council members raised several operational questions: whether glass should be removed from the curbside program (staff said glass remains acceptable under Ocala's contract), how often commercial dumpsters must be serviced (the city ordinance requires at least weekly service for health and safety), and whether high-frequency service (for example a dumpster emptied six days a week) should instead be served by a compactor in high-volume locations.

Private haulers who attended voiced concern about the city entering compactor service. John Paglia of Florida Express Waste and Recycling told council he was "passionate about what I do and serve in this community" and said the city's new compactor capability raised questions about fairness to private businesses: "it sounds like, in my, for lack of better terms, free money to compete with private business." He asked the council to ensure private haulers' existing accounts and opportunities would not be unduly curtailed.

In response to those concerns, council members and the city manager said it had been the city’s intent to protect existing private compactor accounts. Staff were asked to compile the list of private hauler compactor accounts and present a formal approach (an MOU or policy) that would preserve those accounts; the council asked staff to return with that proposal at the first meeting in June.

Staff also described value-added services the sanitation division provides beyond curbside pickup: storm debris collection (citing large-scale efforts after Hurricane Irma), sharps-container distribution, household hazardous-waste pickup by appointment, twice-yearly waste-amnesty days, shopping-cart retrieval and dead-animal removal from right-of-way. Park said these services and the city’s in-house fleet give Ocala flexibility during storms and other events.

Park noted sanitation transferred approximately $9.9 million to the general fund between 2018 and 2024; the current transfer rate is 15 percent and the city’s reserve policy calls for a 25 percent reserve. He also said the city is conducting a rate study and expects to return with recommendations in a couple months.

Council and staff emphasized public education on recycling and services (including the medical-waiver pickup for residents unable to bring carts to the curb), and requested more visible communications about the city’s sanitation services. No formal ordinance change was made at the workshop; the council’s only formal direction was to have staff prepare a written policy/MOU and return in June with the list of private compactor accounts and a recommended approach to protect them.

Looking ahead: staff will issue an ITB for disposal services, continue the ongoing rate study, and prepare the promised policy/MOU on compactor-account protections for the June meeting.