Flagstaff City Council Votes To Terminate Lease Agreement With Norton Environmental

The Flagstaff City Council unanimously decided to terminate the lease agreement with Norton Environmental regarding the recycling facility in Flagstaff that closed down last week. The closure left city officials trying to find a new location for recyclables. This action allows the city to take over the site and operations control resulting in resuming curbside residential service Monday. The transition will provide the transfer of locally collected recyclables to three facilities in Phoenix. Norton and the city entered into a lease, construction and service agreement in 1996, for Norton to design, construct and operate a materials recovery facility on property owned by the city and located at 18-hundred East Butler Avenue. Over the past 25 years, Norton has operated the facility processing collected recyclables for the City of Flagstaff. Last week, Norton closed the facility due to several factors, including staffing issues and a recent fire inside the Facility. As a result, the city entered into discussions and come to an agreement with Norton to terminate the lease and service agreement effective immediately. The materials recovery facility was in transition as the existing agreement was to set to end September 30th.