The City of Petaluma’s franchise collector had been serving the City for over 50 years. As the contract neared expiration, the Council had directed staff to competitively solicit proposals for future services.
HF&H Solutions
HF&H was retained by the City to manage the procurement of collection and processing services. The process involved conducting two public opinion surveys for residential and commercial customers; facilitating over 10 public workshops and City Council meetings; performing an operational and financial review of existing collection services; preparing requests for proposals; evaluating proposals; and assisting with contractor selection and negotiations.
This process involved issuance of two RFPs. The first RFP was focused on improving recycling to achieve state diversion goals. Two collection companies submitted proposals. However, a new City Council and complications at the County landfill resulted in Council direction to reissue the RFP with an emphasis on achieving diversion levels of 50%, 60%, and 70%. Three companies submitted proposals in response to the second RFP. Following negotiations with one proposer offering substantial diversion, the Council concluded it could not recommend the diversion-oriented proposal with a 100% plus rate increase to its customers. Council then directed negotiations with its existing service provider. For a variety of reasons, including complications related to unionization attempts, these negotiations were not completed. HF&H then successfully negotiated an agreement with GreenWaste Recovery.
Results
The final franchise agreement provided diversion and service enhancements including:
Weekly recycling and yard waste collection and single-stream recyclables collection;
Enhanced City services; expanded collection public litter and public recycling containers; and recycling at special events;
Street sweeping and power washing requirements for the downtown area;
Vehicle impact fee to recover costs associated with collection vehicle wear and tear; and
Use of split-body collection vehicles to reduce residential street impacts.
City of Petaluma