Port St. Lucie may receive approximately $24 million over the next two years in a settlement from Waste Pro, resolving a years-long contract dispute.
Waste Pro, which handled the city’s trash collection until an acrimonious split in late 2022, will pay Port St. Lucie an initial $21 million “within 30 days” as of April 17, according to city communications director Scott Samples. He added the hauler would give two more $1.5 million payouts due Jan. 31 of 2027 and 2028.
The City Council will “review options” to use the settlement funds in upcoming workshops and public meetings in the months ahead, Samples said. They conferred over and approved the settlement in a brief meeting the morning of April 10 before deliberations began April 13.
Legal maneuvers days before the meeting averted a lawsuit that would have gone to trial April 13. According to an April 9 city release, the aborted lawsuit, as did litigation since 2021, revolved around disputes with Waste Pro that emerged before and during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“The lawsuit cited issues related to Waste Pro’s performance and subsequent premature cancellation of its multi-year contract with the city,” said a release put out hours after the April 13 meeting. Samples added the settlement would be in “the best interest” of both parties.
Port St. Lucie received “more than 10,000 complaints” between 2019 and 2021 as the trash hauler’s service continued to degrade while the population grew during COVID, according to Samples.
“There were a lot of learning curves that came as a result of COVID (and) the growth that has occurred in a really quick way,” Samples said. “I think that may have played a factor.” He added Waste Pro’s failure to meet contract stipulations was “the genesis of the lawsuit.”
The fallout led to Port St. Lucie annulling Waste Pro’s contracts in August 2022, city records show. The city switched to FCC Environmental Services since, which has proven a boon so far as residential trash complaints grew less prevalent.
“We’ve seen that drastically reduced and I think we have a better long-term plan for how we can continue to provide the service in a way that is as effective as possible,” Samples said.