TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Stephanie Katsouleas, Public Works Director
Anna Luke-Jones, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Resolution No. 17-0137 Awarding a Professional Services Agreement to HF&H Consultants, LLC to Assist the City with its Selection of New Residential and Commercial Solid Waste Hauling Franchise Services (Public Works Director Katsouleas).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 17-0137
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council adopt Resolution No. 17-0137 (Attachment 1) awarding a Professional Services Agreement to HF&H Consultants to assist the City with its selection of new residential and commercial solid waste hauling franchise services.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Awarding a professional services agreement for assistance with Solid Waste Hauling Franchise procurement for $149,000 is fully reimbursable by the waste hauler ultimately selected, and therefore ultimately at no cost to the City.
BACKGROUND:
Per Manhattan Beach Municipal Code (MBMC) 5.24, the City maintains the exclusive right to provide trash and recycling services to its residents and businesses; and currently it does so through its solid waste franchise agreement with Waste Management. Residential collection takes place weekly, Monday through Friday, while commercial collection is established by the business based on individual needs (ranging from daily to weekly). Other collection services provided to the City include curbside green waste, municipal waste, bulky item pick-up, household hazardous waste pick-up, food scrap recycling, trash collection at city sponsored events and educational outreach. The agreement also includes collection of school recycling waste as well as support for other programs such as shred events, composting classes, waste facility tours and various collection drives.
Waste Management (WM), formerly Western Waste, has been the City’s franchised solid waste hauler since the City privatized solid waste hauling in the early 1980’s. The most recent contract was executed in 2011. It included a 7-year term (through June 30, 2018) with an optional two-year renewal, which if executed would extend the current terms through June 30, 2020. This agreement also represented the first time the City implemented a tiered rate structure for residential solid waste disposal. Residents were provided with three cart size options - a 32-gallon, 64-gallon or 96-gallon cart could be chosen depending on how much non-recyclable, solid waste a household typically generated. And, under this agreement, the Sand Section transitioned from manual collection to automated collection.
Although the current agreement includes annual price escalations that are tied to various consumer price indexes, on a periodic basis Manhattan Beach solicits and receives bids for solid waste collection services to ensure that the City is receiving the best market price for these services and is in compliance with new laws as they are adopted. The Solid Waste Collection industry is complex, and a comprehensive evaluation of the services available from each potential hauler is beyond the expertise of city staff. Therefore, on April 6, 2010, in preparation for the 2011 solid waste hauling franchise award, the City retained HF&H Consultants, LLC to assist with development of a Request for Proposals (RFP), evaluate the bids received, assure compliance with current solid waste laws, verify the likelihood that the successful bidder could deliver the services desired, review the rates surrounding jurisdictions were paying, and negotiate the final contract terms. HF&H Consultant, LLC’s fees for these services was ultimately reimbursed by Waste Management as the successful bidder of the last RFP process; this is common practice in the industry.
DISCUSSION:
On July 18, 2017, staff received direction from City Council to initiate the process for selecting a new solid waste hauler and shortly thereafter began preparations for this effort. This included developing a comprehensive timeline for all the steps that need to be taken and developing a survey and outreach strategy as the initial step. The full list of actions that need to be taken include:
1. Surveying residents and business about their opinions on the current level of services provided and what new services may be desired. Outreach about the survey has been extensive and has presented at/on:
o City Homepage from 9/28 to 10/31
o E-Notification sent on 9/28/17
o Posted to City Facebook and Twitter accounts
o Posted on Nextdoor 10/17/2017
o Farmers Market on 10/17/2017 and 10/24/2017
o Electronic and hard-copy surveys provided at the Hometown Fair on 10/7-10/8
o Printed surveys placed at the Welcome counter for the month of October
o Ads posted in the Beach Reporter online (in-story ad) and in print for five weeks (9/28 - 10/26)
o Presented to the North End Business Improvement District (BID) on 10/4/17and at the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business and Professional Association (DBPA) meeting on 10/12/17
o Forwarded to the Manhattan Beach Chamber, DBPA and North End BID to blast to their members on 10/3/2017
o Promoted at City Council meetings on 10/3/17 and 10/17/17
o Community meetings hosted on 11/2/2017 (9:00 a.m. for commercial and 6:00 p.m. for residential)
2. Summarizing survey results and current trends waste collection trends to City Council and seeking additional input on the final list of desired services (target date: December 2017)
3. Developing an RFP for the desired solid waste collection services and corresponding Franchise Agreement (based on current laws) that the successful hauler will be required to sign (December 2017 - February 2018)
4. Releasing an RFP and releasing addenda based on bidder questions received (March - May, 2018)
5. Comprehensively evaluating proposals received for conformance with the RFP and conducting proposer interviews (June - July, 2018)
6. Conducting contract negotiations and presenting findings to City Council for consideration of a contract award (August - September, 2018)
7. Conducting a Proposition 218 ballot measure for new solid waste collection fees (October - December, 2018)
8. Coordinating roll-out of collection services (pending award, up to six months)
In order to provide comprehensive assistance with carrying out items 2-8 above, staff solicited proposals from three consultants known to have extensive experience in solid waste negotiations between prospective haulers and municipalities. Two consultants responded to our request and submitted detailed scopes of work for the requested services. After a thorough review, staff found that HF&H Consultants, LLC provided the most comprehensive understanding of the City’s needs and had the most experience in negotiating new solid waste hauling contracts on behalf of cities (see Attachment 2, Exhibit A: Scope of Work). The proposed fees were within 3% of each other, suggesting substantially similar pricing structures for the proposed work.
The target dates provided above assume that the solid waste hauler selection process proceeds without significant changes to the actions summarized in items 1-8. Should Council direct staff to proceed with additional negotiations, this timeline and the proposed budget would be extended accordingly.
CONCLUSION:
Therefore, staff recommends that City Council approve a professional services agreement with HF&H Consultants, LLC (see Attachment 2) to assist the City with its selection of new residential and commercial solid waste hauling franchise services.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
No public outreach was conducted for this item.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Not applicable.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
Attachment/Attachments:
1. Resolution No. 17-0137
2. Professional Services Agreement and Scope of Work