Q:How many unionized public employees does it take to change a lightbulb?
A:”Eight. You gotta problem with that?”
Well its better than turning the streets into SanFran style of public hygiene?
The “facility is probably no more than 20 feet from public sewer and water.
When ever you see an government contract for a service that is way out of line think kick back. Someone is getting money back from the contractor.
It does not have to be in the form of cash in an envelope, it could just be a generous campaign donation. Or a donation to a charity (run by one of the politicians).
The chance are, the toilet will never even be cleaned.
Single toilet at full service, including waste-removal and adding water, 2X per day - probably 7 days/week....find a reliable source to do it for less than that...the contract is fine -— if it is truly necessary to have that toilet in that spot under those conditions....
Adios, Austin!
Really, the price is not that outrageous. $115,000 per year = $315 per day. When done twice a day it boils down to about $158 per cleaning.
This job likely requires one person with a tonner truck that has a vacuum tank, vacuum pump, fresh water tank and pump plus the tools, safety gear etc. Counting travel time, probably a two hour job. At $80 per hour it’s quite reasonable. You are not going to hire a backhoe, loader or dump truck at that price in that locale.
The problem is the portable toilet idea. I bet for that same $115,000 they could have a conventional toilet with real plumbing built. Maintenance costs would be pennies thereafter. It’s a stupid idea.
The high school I attended was built in 1969 and considered very high tech. I worked in the library there the first year. We had a bank of 30 or so open reel tape decks that broadcast their signal to a wireless system around the library. Kids could check out receivers and listen to stuff. I took a wollensack portable open reel home and stuck a mic up to the speaker on our B&W TV and recorded Charlie Brown Christmas and we played it there. We also had a huge open reel video recorder. Oh, and closed loop film players that could be checked out to watch a bunch of short films. There were around 1500 students.
Why do I mention this? Because it was touted as the “Million dollar” high school.
Price inflation is how the government robs its people. It’s not that 100k is a lot to clean a bathroom. It’s that 100k isn’t worth that much.
It could be replaced for $1,500 or less.
The contract is like saying the work will involve 8 hours every day of the year at a cost of about $39 an hour.
Which city council persons has the waste disposal contractor made contributions to, or has pledged contributions to?
Much better idea: Create a public toilet hooked into the sewer and water system.
One half the price, or less.