Letter From ITM Morrell on Solid Waste Services
From the Desk of Interim Town Manager, Lisa Morrell
RE: Residential & Commercial Solid Waste Services Contract Notice
On February 1, 2021 Town Staff discussed with Town Council the second term renewal of contracted services for all residential & commercial solid waste collection services for the Town or Malabar with Waste Management, the three term contract totals 21 years, and each term consists of a 7 years period. The contract was awarded in 2014, with the first term expiring on September 30, 2021. Town Council voted to renewal for the second term at that meeting date.
Town staff commenced meetings with Waste Management to discuss the renewal; whereas the Waste Management (WM) conveyed shortfalls in the contract related to consumer price index (CPI) price index increases during the first term of seven years and the cost of doing business since the contract award of 2014. The CPI rate chosen and agreed upon in the contract had not kept up with the rise in cost for service for the contractor, WM. The cost to the Town had risen by 1.22% or $1.50 over the course of the six previous years, however the costs in labor, commodities, fuel had risen by to an aggregate of 20% to WM over the same course of time. Additionally, the negative impacts of the pandemic have created shortages for CDL drivers for trucking and increased delays in vehicle maintenance for the WM. In short, WM reported to Town Council a propose “significant increase” to solid waste collection contract at the May 17, 2021, Regular Town Council Meeting. Town council discussed options of a bid or a piggyback contract of another municipality’s contract for solid waste services. Town staff contacted another solid waste contractor in the area with contracts with other municipalities to discover the viability for using another agency’s contract. Although this option was initially thought would be viable, after discussions and the contractor reviews of contracts and Town services, these efforts closed and Town Council was advised at the June 7, 2021 Regular Town Council Meeting.
On July 13, 2021, Town Staff published a Request for Proposal , RFP #2021-01 entitled Residential & Commercial Franchise Agreement for Solid Waste, Recycling, Yard Waste, and Bulk Waste Collection Services seeking qualified contractors to provide proposals from qualified bidders through Demand Star, with a submission date of August 17, 2021. Demand Star is a nationally recognized online electronic procurement software for government solicitations of competitive bids for goods and services. The Town had 9 planholders download the RFP; 4 Vendors attended the pre-bid conference on July 27, 2021. On August 17, 2021, three proposal submissions were received by the closing date of August 17, 2021 and a time certain of 3:00pm. The vendors that provided proposals to The Town were WastePro, Republic Services, and a statement of no response from Waste Management.
The Town has distributed the (2) proposals to the Evaluation Committee comprised of a citizen from each voting district of the Town; these individuals will read, review, score and rank the proposal with a provided criteria and scoring system from the RFP. The highlights of the request for proposal asked potential bidders to provide options for collection services of the current contract which is twice per week, one time per week, and the proposer had the opportunity to propose a best alternative collection frequency and amount. The proposals include four categories for response: Qualifications and Experience, Technical Proposal, Contract Exceptions and Financial Proposal; these sections go into detail of a transition plan, processing and disposal, customer outreach, customer service, billing, cart distribution, equipment resources, performance history, and company information. The evaluation committee will meet to discuss the proposals to achieve a recommendation to Town Council to negotiate a final contract for Solid Waste Collection Services with the top ranked firm, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021 at 6:00pm at Town Hall Council Chambers. This meeting is an evaluation committee meeting and is not a public hearing and will be open for attendance of the public but will not include public comment.
After the committee has discussed the proposals and provided a final ranking, an agenda item to award this RFP to the top rank firm and negotiate a final contract is slated for the Regular Town Council Meeting on Monday, September 27, 2021 at 7:30pm, this meeting is open to the public and will permit public comment.
On September 14, 2021, at 7:30pm, Town Council will consider a temporary extension agreement with Waste Management for solid waste collection services from October 1, 2021, through March 31, 2021 at an increased rate to bridge the gap in the contract term expiration, to continue to provide solid waste collection services during the RFP award and transition to a new collector. Town Staff will discuss with Town Council the negative financial impact to households to retain a sanitary condition for the public welfare where the pandemic has created nationwide logistic shortages of CDL drivers, labor, and increases to fuel and commodities related to collection and hauling of solid waste collection.
Thank you,
Lisa Morrell
Interim Town Manager
Town of Malabar
321-727-7764