Amador County – ACES Waste Service on Wednesday announced it was working toward a purchase of 3 contracts from Waste Connections to operate the Buena Vista Landfill and serve Amador County Franchise Area 1 and the city of Plymouth. Paul Molinelli Junior, co-owner of the Pine Grove company, said ACES has “a handshake agreement to purchase” Waste Connections’ local contracts, and Waste Connections wants to exit the county. He said the handshake was made several weeks ago, but because the corporation had not informed its staff, ACES was not allowed to discuss the agreement. He said Waste Connections’ staff was notified of the potential sale Monday. Waste Connections cannot assign a contract that it owns without the agreement of the franchising entity, in this case Plymouth City Council and Amador County Supervisors. ACES now serves curbside in county Franchise Areas 2 and 3. Molinelli said the company has held a contract for 34 years to serve Franchise Area 3, serving all of the Upcountry, from Pine Grove to Kirkwood. ACES also holds franchises in Jackson and Sutter Creek. Molinelli said the handshake initiated “due diligence” to acquire information about their contracting, and work toward “final sale of their local assets” to ACES. Local staff was told by Waste Connections it would take 120 days or longer to complete any agreements. Waste Connections holds exclusive contracts in Plymouth and Franchise Area 1, and operates the transfer station and material recovery facility at the Buena Vista Landfill. Molinelli said Amador County and Plymouth would have to approve the transfer of those contracts to ACES, and Waste Connections would have to submit those inquiries. He said Amador County Chief Administrative Officer Terry Daly “lit up like a Christmas tree,” when he discussed the tentative agreement. ACES recently took over services in Ione, after Waste Connections pulled out. The Ione City Council Tuesday voted to direct staff to begin a transition from permitting waste services, to offering franchise contracts. Molinelli said Ione is only city in Amador County that does not have exclusive franchising, which ACES would prefer. He said just as ACES was awarded the Sutter Creek franchise last year, then soon after that had to plan for taking over in Ione, when Waste Connections pulled out. Molinelli said ACES “spent half a million dollars to lease equipment and trucks” to serve Ione, and an “exclusive franchise allows us to borrow money to buy equipment through capital leases.” Folsom-based Wastes Connections is publicly traded and serves more than a million customers in 23 states. Waste Connections reported $316 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2009. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.