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R-09-03 A RESOLUTION CONCERNING PRIVATIZATION AND THE SOUTHEASTERN PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY. WHEREAS, the Southeastern Public Service Authority ("SPSA") is a regional solid waste authority that has been serving the cities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Franklin and the Counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton since approximately 1983; and WHEREAS, in recent years, due to a number of factors, SPSA has incurred an excessive amount of debt, in the approximate amount of $250,000,000; and WHEREAS, SPSA debt service now consumes approximately 40% ofSPSA's revenues, and this level of debt service would normally lead to voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy for a private corporation; and WHEREAS, the fees SPSA has been charging to its six of its eight members for services, including Portsmouth, have been excessive and unreasonable, and those fees may be subject to additional and even more severe increases in the future; and WHEREAS, serious questions now exist about the continued viability and existence of SPSA; and WHEREAS, several reputable major corporations that are highly qualified in the related fields of municipal solid waste disposal, waste-to-energy conversion, renewable fuels, and recycling, including but not limited to Covanta, Wheelebrator, and Re-Energy, have expressed interest in purchasing and privatizing either some of SPSA' s major capital assets or SPSA as a whole; and WHEREAS, partial or complete privatization of SPSA holds the potential for materially decreasing the fees charged to Portsmouth and its citizens for waste disposal while also improving the quality of life in Portsmouth neighborhoods that are close to SPSA facilities and improving the environment generally while still honoring SPSA's debt obligations; and WHEREAS, SPSA has not treated these privatization proposals with the requisite degree of urgency, has declined to enter into good faith negotiations on one or several of the proposals, and does not anticipate completing a review of selected proposals until almost a year hence; and WHEREAS, it is essential that SPSA proceed with good faith consideration of all reasonable privatization proposals expeditiously and without delay; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Portsmouth, Virginia: I. That Portsmouth hereby calls upon SPSA to give good faith consideration to all proposals for partial or complete privatization of SPSA;