A new garbage collection contract would mean cheaper prices, more options and bear-proof cans for Issaquah residents.
It also would be a big win for Cleanscapes, which outbid Waste Management, the current collector, for the $4 million contract. A third company, Allied Waste, also offered a bid.
Waste Management truck drivers filled the City Council chambers Monday, while managers addressed the city with a plea to reconsider the recommendation.
While the council didn’t respond to the Waste Management members, all wearing bright yellow uniforms, Cleanscapes president Chris Martin turned to them during his public comments and pitched them a job offer, before being told to stop by the city attorney.
The council won’t vote on any contract until it is convinced the selection process was diligent and fair, but members did vote to move along the process for what would be a June 2012 contract change.
Though Cleanscapes bid about $100,000 less than Waste Management, Mary Evans, WM director of public sectors, cited the benefit of retaining the company saying “our drivers know the city, they know their customers.”
However, David Fujimoto, the city’s resource conservation office manager, noted that the last time the contract came up for bid, Waste Management won it from Allied Waste.
“This is what they do for a living,” Fujimoto said, “they compete for contracts.”
The country has seen heavy consolidation of waste collectors over the past 10 years. Cleanscapes, which has created competition in the Pacific Northwest, just announced plans to merge with Recology, a major national company.
In its bid, Cleanscapes added more recycling options, including fluorescent lightbulbs, and would offer more choices for trash-can sizes.
They would keep the same rolling bins residents have now, but introduce a 45-gallon bin and a 10-gallon “micro-can.”
Those willing to pay $1.50 more a month would get bear-resistant cans, a bargain, given they cost three times more, Fujimoto said.
While the bins have been introduced to areas with large bear populations already, in a lot of ways Issaquah would pioneer their use, he said.
While the city negotiates contracts for Issaquah, residents pay the garbage collectors directly.
Allied Waste, which also bid on the contract, offered the lowest bid, but fewer services.
As a part of South Cove’s annexation deal, Allied Waste will continue to offer services until its contract is up in 2016. Then South Cove would receive services from Cleanscapes.
