2027-2030 SOLID WASTE COLLECTION CONTRACT RENEWAL

2027-2030 SOLID WASTE COLLECTION CONTRACT RENEWAL

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT Council authorize staff to proceed with a competitive bid process for a new three-year (2027-2030) solid waste collection contract, with an option to extend for an additional two years, based on existing levels of service.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

THAT Council authorize staff to report to Council on the impacts of redefining the level of service for garbage collection, for the purposes of considering the competitive bid process for a new three-year solid waste collection contract, with an option for an additional two-year extension, based on a redefined level of service;

AND THAT Council authorize staff to negotiate an extension to the current solid waste collection contract with Waste Management to March 30, 2027.

DISCUSSION:

The current solid waste collection contract with Waste Management will expire at the end of 2026. Early Council direction is requested to ensure there is no disruption to the level of service for the collection program in 2027.

Staff recommend maintaining existing levels of service. This recommendation is supported by: (1) previous citizen engagement surveys indicating no significant concerns with the current level of service, and (2) the absence of level of service concerns raised by residents throughout the years.

There are risks associated with changing the level of service for solid waste collection (i.e. moving to a biweekly program), including:

• decreased customer satisfaction;
• significant costs to the Town to replace existing bins with larger bins;
• results from the last competitive bid process in 2008, which demonstrated an insignificant cost reduction associated with a biweekly program;
• ongoing administrative and operational costs related to managing bin size requests, which would be a recurring (not on-time) issue, as evidenced through staff engagement with other local governments that offer multiple bin sizes; and
• a potential increase in conflicts with wildlife.

Council may alternatively authorize staff to negotiate a three-year extension with the Town’s current solid waste collection contractor, Waste Management, which has served as the Town’s contractor since 2009. While this option would provide greater predictability in maintaining current service levels, it would contravene the Town’s Purchasing Policy and may result in a loss in competitive pricing.

An alternative option can be to proceed with the competitive bid process for a new three year contract based on a redefined level of service. However, Council should consider the short and long term impacts of such a change. Staff would recommend providing more data to Council prior to their consideration to this – the research could be extensive and as a result could leave the Town with no contractor in January 2027 if decisions are not made or are delayed. Therefore, should Council wish to consider redefining level of service for garbage collection, staff recommend that reporting direction be provided immediately to staff so that the necessary staff reporting can be done expediently, and that staff negotiate with the Town’s current contractor, Waste Management, an extension of three months (to March 30, 2027) to mitigate risks to collection disruptions.

Impacts and implications can be summarized as follows:

Note: budget increase based on nominal CPI percentage amounts (approximately 2%) and still considered good representation due to low single family to fourplex growth in View Royal and consistent disposal fee rates to the Hartland Facility.

Approximately 32% of the expense are disposal fees to the CRD Hartland Facility. These disposal fees are beyond the control of the Town and rates are set and modified by the CRD.

ALIGNMENT:

The recommended option aligns with the Town’s following core guiding documents as follows:

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GOAL:

The desired level of public participation for the recommended option is:

[x] Inform [ ] Consult [ ] Involve [ ] Collaborate [ ] Empower [ ] N/A

TIME CRITICAL:

Timely direction is required to ensure uninterrupted solid waste collection for the 2027 season and to avoid potential service gaps. Staff recommend bringing forward a recommended award to Council no later than September to mitigate potential service disruptions that may arise during the transition period.