Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-06-2001sp SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING March 6, 2001 4:00 PM COUNCIL WORK AREA SOLID WASTE MINUTES I. Call to Order Mayor Charles A. Booth called the special meeting of the Auburn City Council to order at 4:05 PM. Councilmembers Rich Wagner, Trish Borden, Fred Poe, Sue Singer, Pete Lewis, and Stacey Brothers were present. Councilmember Jeanne Barber arrived at 4:10 PM. Staff members present included: Public Works Director Christine Engler, Solid Waste Supervisor Sharon Conroy, Assistant Finance Director Shelley Coleman, and City Clerk Danielle Daskam. Guests present included: Jeff Brown of Sound Resource Management and Jerry Hardebeck and Laura Moser of Washington Waste Management. II. Introduction Mayor Booth explained the purpose of the meeting is to discuss solid waste services and options for the City of Auburn. Earlier this year, the City engaged the firm of Sound Resource Management Group to review the City's solid waste contract and develop bid proposal and contract specifications for a new solid waste contract. The City's current contract will expire December 31, 2001. III. Discussion of Solid Waste Options and Issues Solid Waste Supervisor Sharon Conroy introduced Mr. Jeff Brown of Sound Resource Management Group. Mr. Brown explained that the City hired Sound Resource Management Group to develop a solid waste procurement process and undertake a solid waste rate review. The rate review was completed and presented to the Municipal Services Committee earlier. Mr. Brown discussed his work with the Municipal Special City Council Meeting Minutes March 6, 2001 Page 2 Services Committee to develop a solid waste procurement service package, which includes all the different elements of the service contract. Mr. Brown presented a table of the service package elements and the initial decisions made to date by the Municipal Services Committee with regard to each element. The procurement service package provides that residential garbage collection container sizes and frequency of collection will remain the same. Residential yard debris service will continue to be subscription based (only users will pay). Collection will remain weekly during the months of March through November and every-other week during the months of December through February. A residential curbside recycling program will be implemented utilizing a commingled wheeled cart system. The curbside recycling service cost will be embedded in the solid waste fees. Types of recyclables collected in the wheeled cart system include: cardboard, mixed waste paper, newspaper, glass, aluminum and tins cans, rigid plastic containers, and plastic bottles. The base bid will include prices for every-other-week collection and an option for every week collection. The bid documents specify that the contractor provides the containers, the cost of which is included in the rate; and the City will own the containers at the end of the contract. The contractor also retains the revenues or costs from the sale of recyclables. The solid waste service contract will retain the City's annual flee "Spring Clean-up" and also includes user-pay bulky waste collection during the rest of the year. The contract will also provide for a range of front-load dumpsters and drop-boxes for temporary use by residents and businesses. Commercial solid waste container sizes and frequency of collection will remain the same. Mr. Brown discussed the nuances of a commercial recycling program since deregulation of the industry. The majority of the Council members favored embedding the cost of commercial recycling in the commercial rates. Councilmember Poe spoke in favor of keeping commercial recycling on a subscription basis. He questioned the percentage of commercial customers utilizing a recycling program. Assistant Finance Director Coleman estimated there are 1,700 commercial accounts and approximately 400 of those accounts utilize a recycling program. Special City Council Meeting Minutes March 6, 2001 Page 3 (Councilmember Lewis was called away from the Council meeting at this time (4:40 PM) due to an emergency.) Mr. Jerry Hardebeck of Washington Waste Hauling and Recycling reported that the cities of Redmond and Bothell, where commercial recycling costs are embedded in the rates, experienced 25% and 23% diversion rates last year. In the City of Renton, where commercial recycling is similar to Auburn's current operation, the diversion rate was 12.6%. He concluded that cities embed commercial recycling rates to ensure consistent service and maximize the diversion rate. Mr. Brown continued discussion of other service package elements. Solid waste collection would continue to be a mandatory service . Contract price modification will be set at 70% of a CPI to be determined at the next contract draft. The contract length will be set at seven years, with two 2- year renewal options that can only be exercised by the City. Billing for solid waste service would continue to be a function of the City. In response to a questions from Councilmembers Brothers and Singer, Mr. Brown explained that route management systems used by most contractors include a billing system, and therefore most contractors have the capability to bill customers. Customer billing by the contractor is a more common practice than utilizing a third party billing agency. Mr. Brown indicated that because the City of Auburn has mandatory collection and an existing system that can adequately perform the billing, he recommends the billing responsibility remain with the City. He also indicated that because of issues related to bad debt collection and mandatory collection, City billing is preferred. Councilmember Wagner recalled discussion during the last Municipal Services Committee meeting regarding administrative procedures, such as points of contact for service subscription, delinquent accounts, and service complaints. Public Works Director Engler agreed to work with Solid Waste Supervisor Conroy and the consultant to ensure the appropriate administrative details are included in the draft contract, Mr. Brown spoke regarding rate design. He indicated the issue is not a procurement issue any longer since the City is retaining the billing responsibility. The amount the City pays the contractor for a particular level of service doesn't necessarily have a direct connection to the fees Special City Council Meeting Minutes March 6, 2001 Page 4 charged. The City can adjust the rates to provide incentives, particular rate structures, or senior center discounts. Mr. Brown indicated that the bidding documents will include a prevailing wage clause. He also reported that the Municipal Services Committee recommended that if Waste Management is not the successful bidder, the contract documents include the provision that Waste Managemenrs current employees would be offered the possibility for positions with the successful bidder. Mr. Brown indicated that the supplemental solid waste contracts for Boeing and GSA would be incorporated in the main contract. There will be specific provisions to address Boeing's and GSA's specialized needs. Mr. Brown reported the draft contract and bidding documents will be ready for legal review in approximately a week. He anticipates the City will be ready to advertise for bids by April and execute a new contract by July. IV. Adjournment There being no further discussion, the meeting adjourned at 5:12 PM. Approved the C2~--~ day of April, 2001. 2001 aO3~O6special.doc