FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lindsey Sampson, Lee County Solid Waste Division
(941) 479-8181

LEE COUNTY TO CONSIDER SLIGHT INCREASE IN GARBAGE RATES

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 23, 2001) - The Board of Lee County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday (July 24) to adopt solid waste assessments and disposal rates for Fiscal Year 2001-02.

The hearing will be at 5 p.m. in the Lee County Commission Chambers at the Old County Courthouse, 2120 Main Street in downtown Fort Myers.

The county's Solid Waste Division is recommending a 4.3 percent average increase in residential garbage rates - from an average of $187.70 to $195.72. The primary reason for the increase is homeowners in the past year have generated, on average, 12 percent more garbage. Existing and proposed (in parentheses) rates in the county's five franchise areas are as follows:

Area 1 Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs, Captiva $181.46 ($189.33)
Area 2 South of Fort Myers $182.50 ($190.40)
Area 3 East, Lehigh Acres $184.06 ($191.99)
Area 4 North Fort Myers $184.58 ($192.53)
Area 5 Pine Island $205.90 ($214.36)
Average $187.70 ($195.72)

Lee County currently is in the pre-planning and permitting process of expanding its Waste-to-Energy Facility from a capacity of 1,200 tons per day to 1,800 tons per day. Adding a third, 600-ton-per-day, boiler unit to the plant is preliminarily estimated at $79 million. Bonds will be issued to finance the project and consultants studies indicate there should be no additional impact to rate payers other than a previously projected two percent annual increase in disposal fees. This is possible because the county currently is planning to refinance the initial debt to build the facility, and the incremental operating costs are lower than the initial costs.

Lee County's Waste-to-Energy Facility was completed in August 1994 and disposes of the county's garbage by burning it and generating electricity from a steam driven turbine. The facility burns 395,000 tons of garbage a year and generates up to 34 megawatts of electricity - or enough to power about 30,000 homes. Since the Waste-to-Energy Plant began operating, residential garbage rates in Lee County have declined from $224 to $188 a year. Covanta Lee Inc., formerly Ogden Martin Systems of Lee Inc., operates the facility through a County contract. The facility has been operating at its maximum capacity during the past year.

The plant meets strict environmental and emissions standards and has been the recipient of many awards since opening, including the 1999 Waste-to-Energy Excellence Gold Award from The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), and the 2001 Facility Recognition Award from The Solid Waste Processing Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).