6. Staff Report-Waste Management Update Staff Report
Date of Meeting: October 3, 2023
For: Honorable Mayor and Council
From: Kyle Morell, City Administrator
Subject: Waste and Recycling: Status Report on Negotiations with
Waste Management
This report aims to update the Council on the negotiations with Waste Management (WM) and
recommend the following steps as the city determines how best to provide waste and recycling
services to Scandia residents.
Background:
At the January 4, 2023, meeting, the Council directed staff to pursue an organized collection
system for trash and recycling services. Organized collection is an optional use of the city’s
authority to choose the waste hauler(s) to serve the community. The price households pay in
an organized collection system is generally lower per month for similar service levels than in an
open collection system due to increased efficiencies from serving every household in the
community or a particular route.
At the February 1, 2023, meeting, Council approved a notice entering the City into a required
60-day negotiation period with existing haulers. The notice was published on February 8, 2023,
for a negotiation period that ended on April 9, 2023. The Council also appointed a Waste and
Recycling Negotiating Committee consisting of Councilmembers Benson and Lubke, along with
staff and consultants.
The Committee met on February 22, 2023, to discuss what services should be discussed in
negotiations with Waste Management (WM), the city’s only current waste and recycling hauler.
It also reviewed current waste and recycling contracts from other area communities, the City’s
previous contract with SRC for recycling services, and created a detailed list of items to discuss
with WM.
On March 14, four committee members (Hurlburt, Benson, Fischer & Larson) held the first
negotiation meeting with WM representatives Pat Cosgrove, WM Area Public Sector Manager,
and Jason Hartman, WM Public Sector Sales Representative. The same group met again on
March 28, 2023.
Interim Administrator Hurlburt created contract language using the WM contract with the City
of Stillwater as a foundation, adding aspects of other organized collection contracts reviewed
by the Committee. That contract was reviewed by the Committee and Jason Hartman from
WM at our April 18 negotiation meeting.
WM returned the proposed Agreement on May 9 with minor changes. The Negotiation
Committee reviewed the document over email and offered comments to City Attorney Larson,
who made the changes and returned the Agreement to WM.
Current Proposal:
On Tuesday, May 30, I received a call from WM stating that we have an agreement on an
Organized Collection Agreement. Councilmember Kronmiller suggested changes to the
Contract, which were reviewed and approved by the Council at their August 15 meeting. Those
changes were sent to Waste Management on August 22, and we are still awaiting their
response.
Re-reading the proposed Agreement with a clear understanding of the Council’s desire to not
require contracted pick-up to those residents who do not want it, staff has concerns over
language in Section 2 of the Agreement, which states as follows:
The Contractor shall furnish all labor and equipment as shall be necessary and
adequate to provide for the satisfactory collection, transportation, and proper
separation and processing of the Municipal Solid Waste (“MSW”) and
Recyclables from all Residential Dwellings in the City.
My concern is over the phrase “all Residential Dwellings in the City.” The contractor
could view this as requiring all residences to have contracted service. Perhaps this
language should be changed to read “all Residential Dwellings in the City that elected to
have contracted hauling services.”
I have made the above agreed-upon change to Section 2 of the Agreement and sent it to
WM for review. I have not heard anything back as of September 29.
Discussion:
The City has received numerous complaints about the level of service provided by WM over the
summer. Reports of missed pick-ups and leaving glass in the roadway occur almost weekly.
Additionally, we have been advised by another City that had WM as their contracted recycling
hauler to rethink our planned seven-year commitment. The contract clauses that allow the City
to hold WM accountable for violations require attorneys to address them, making contract
enforcement expensive. The RFP recently awarded for recycling service by the City was for a
fee of $5.58 per month for bi-weekly pick-up. Our current Agreement with WM is for $9.00 per
month for the same recycling service. However, the WM fee in their open garage hauling
system is $39.91 per month for the large container, whereas our contract is around $20.00 per
month.
I spoke with a City that has had WM for decades. They have also had challenges with missed
pick-ups this summer due to staffing shortages. They have concerns over WM’s customer
service center and how long it takes to talk with someone, but overall, they have a favorable
opinion of WM, as evidenced by their long commitment to them.
The tentative agreement with WM was scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2023. Since
WM is still reviewing the changes proposed last month, we should approve the contract until
we receive their comments.
If Council is second-guessing whether signing the Agreement with WM is the right move for the
City, there is still time to transition and put out a Request for Proposal for waste and recycling
service.
Recommendation:
The current negotiating period ends on October 6, 2023. Therefore, staff recommends that a
30-day extension be approved, with the option of additional extensions. This will continue until
Council approves the Agreement.
Attachments:
None