Contract Services

West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority

Collection Services Procurement

2005 - 2006

Client Needs

The franchise agreement between West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, and Monte Sereno) and their current service provider was set to expire in 2007.  The Authority wanted to add services to assist them in achieving their diversion goals in the most cost-effective manner.   The current service provider had been there for a number of years and the Authority wanted to explore options other companies might provide.

HF&H Solutions 

HF&H assisted the West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority with a competitive procurement for the collection and processing of solid waste, recyclable materials, and green waste.  This procurement was comprised of the following tasks:

1. Planning the procurement process;

2. Preparing the RFP and drafting the franchise agreement;

3. Managing the pre-proposal process;

4. Evaluating proposals;

5. Presenting recommendations to the Authority; and,

6. Negotiating the final franchise agreement.

As part of the project, HF&H evaluated five proposals and provided the Authority with a detailed analysis comparing the proposals (see the Council presentation provided as a work sample in Exhibit 2).

HF&H has also been retained by the Authority to monitor the transition and implementation of the new agreement.

Results 

The Authority entered into a new collection agreement with significant service enhancements at only a 3% rate increase.  Service enhancements include:

• Implementation of single-stream recycling, eliminating the crate recycling collection system;
• Exploration of food waste collection; although they chose not to implement the program at this time, they have an idea of the future cost and benefits of the program;
• Contractor-provided residential carts rather than customer-provided containers;
• Minimum recyclables collection service (at least 96 gallons per week) for all commercial customers that have 6 cubic yards or more of solid waste service per week.