Forum Addresses Consumer Warnings, Solid Waste Management

(l-r) Fred Pinto, District 6 administrative assistant, Commissioner Santamaria, Clerk & Comptroller Sharon Bock, Dennis Lipp, District 6 administrative assistant, and Mark Hammond, executive director of the Solid Waste Authority

Commissioner Santamaria

Commissioner Santamaria

Clerk & Comptroller Sharon Bock

Mark Hammond, Solid Waste Authority

Commissioner Jess Santamaria held his monthly community forum on March 16 at the original Wellington Mall, and it was a very informative engagement. Invited speakers were Clerk & Comptroller Sharon Bock and Solid Waste Authority Executive Director Mark Hammond.

Bock spent about an hour explaining the duties and responsibilities of her office and cautioned residents about some recent scams that have surfaced. In one scheme, someone posing as a jury pool official phones individuals who allegedly failed to show up for jury duty. The caller warns that if the resulting $100 fine isn’t paid immediately – by credit card – an arrest warrant will be issued. Bock advised that her office will never contact recent or prospective jurors demanding money or personal information.

Another scam involves swindlers filing fake quit-claim deeds to take over vacant properties. Bock said a quit-claim deed legally transfers interest in a property to another person, but offers no guarantee of clear title. However, she said, once the fake deed has been entered into the official public record, it is up to the real owner of the property to undo the damage. This means hiring a lawyer and filing what’s known as a quiet-claim suit. Often, the victim is an out-of-town snowbird who doesn’t know that someone has moved into their home or leased it to someone else. Bock urged everyone to go online at least once per year to the clerk’s website, mypalmbeachclerk.com, and carefully check all documents and data listed under your name, and report any errors.

Hammond gave an in-depth presentation on the state-of-the-art waste-to-energy plant to be built at the Solid Waste Authority’s complex on Jog Road. The renewable energy facility turns trash into electricity, which is then sold to utilities. Hammond said mass-burn technology offers the following advantages:

1. least environmentally damaging way to produce power
2. provides clean, sustainable electricity
3. produces no methane gas and 63 percent less CO2 and greenhouse gases than coal plants
4. 90 percent of collected garbage and trash is burned
5. drastically reduces the amount of solid waste going into landfills, extending their life
6. saves on trash-hauling fuel costs and reduces greenhouse gases produced by trucks

The new waste-to-energy plant approved by county commissioners eliminated the need for a new landfill in west-central Palm Beach County. Hammond said that if the facility is online by 2015, as expected, capacity at the current Jog Road landfill should last until about 2050.