The City Council on Monday, May 3 will begin reviewing proposals submitted in February by four waste hauling companies – Athens Services, CR&R, Inc., Ware Disposal and Waste Management of Orange County – vying for the City’s Integrated Solid Waste Management Services contract.
After council members have reviewed the proposals and completed their discussion, the next step in the process will be to direct staff and the City’s consultant firm Sloan Vazquez to negotiate a proposed final agreement with one firm. This could happen on Monday or at the May 17 council meeting or the following council meeting. Staff will then return with the agreement for council consideration at a later date.
The City’s current agreement with Waste Management of Orange County expires after a decade on Dec. 31, 2010. The City is required to solicit a new agreement for trash and recycling services under voter-approved Measure L, which in 2000 amended sections of the City’s Municipal Code, allowing for up to a 10-year term for residential and commercial integrated waste management franchises. A new agreement will take effect in January 2011.
The RFP required the companies to demonstrate their expertise in safely providing solid waste, recyclable material and organic material collection services. The companies were also required to demonstrate how they intend to achieve high diversion rates through existing and/or new innovative programs, including public education.
After an in-depth evaluation process that included public input, Sloan Vazquez ranked the proposals from high to low based on the scoring system in the RFP. The rankings are as follows: 1) Waste Management of Orange County; 2) CR&R, Inc. 3) Athens Services; and 4) Ware Disposal.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. Monday, May 3 in Council Chamber at City Hall, 200 Civic Center. For more information, visit www.cityofmissionviejo.org.
My brother’s family is longtime residents of Rancho Santa Margarita. They are disappointed with CR&R’s recycling efforts. In their opinion, there is a lack of community recycling containers and services are ‘poor.’ My brother summed up CR&R’s services as such, “…you pay for what you get.” I’ve done some research on the company and they are low-balling every city bid throughout Orange County. Perhaps they are offering such low prices because they are not reinvesting in recycling or composting programs? Mission Viejo should consider the firm that has the best plan and resources to get us away from landfill dependency.
I think the city should stay with Waste Management. They do a lot of great things in the community. For instance, they are helping Mission Hospital become green by increasing the recycling, etc. It’s a great partnership. They provide great services and should be rewarded for it.
We feel that we have received excellent service from Waste Management of Orange County. They have served us in our present community for nine years and our previous community in Mission Viejo for thirteen years. We have been nothing but satisfied! Any problem has been handled expeditiously and to our satisfaction.
I think there continues to be a push to just go with the lowest bidder by a few isolated voices. However, it’s a dangerous precedent to always go with the low cost firms we know little about. The previous city council meeting did nothing to sway me in another direction. I don’t know CR&R but I do not trust them to keep their promises.
I agree with you Barry. I’ve done a little research of CR&R and apparently they don’t have the best saftey practices. They might be a little cheaper but at what cost? They are known to overload their trucks which clearly can put others at risk. What do we know about their record and has the council considered this? I would hate for there to be an unfortunate incident and the reason be because we went with the cheaper option.
You know at first, I was going to say that going with CR&R’s lowest bid on this only makes sense. But after reading a lot of points and google’ing CR&R there seems to be a lot of problems with how they are functioning. I don’t think that they can come in at a very low bid and do everything that our current trash company does. I now have to say, stay with the same.