Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/27/2020

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was $1.1 S per month. In 2008, the contractually agreed upon price was $2.95 per household per month. The monthly per unit fee has remained constant at $2.95 since that time (span of 12 years). ACE has proposed a 7-year contract (2021 through 2027). The proposed curbside recycling contract does include a per unit monthly fee increase beginning in 2021. The proposed rate in 2021 and 2022 is $3.75, with the subsequent years having an automatic increase on the 1st of each year. The proposed rates fora 7-year contract are outlined below: Year Rate 2021 2022 2023 2024 2026 2027 i $3.75 $3.75 $3.98 Change 27.12% 0.00% 6.13% $4.10 3.02 '$4.22 $4.34 r$4.45 2.93% I284% P.53% ACE Solid Waste would prefer a 7-year contract. However, If the City Council is more comfortable with a shorter duration contract, ACE has agreed to the following pricing structure for a 5-year contract: 5-year contract Year Rate % Change 2021 $3.75 27.127 2022 $3.86 2.93% 2023 $3.98 3.11% 2024 $4.10 3.02% 2025 $4.22 2.93% Despite some significant changes in the recycling world over the past 5-10 years, Ramsey's per unit monthly fee has remained constant for over a decade. Over the course of the past decade, there have been some fluctuations to the cost of collecting and processing recyclables. In the early to mid 2010s, there was a significant jump in the price offuel, which prompted many haulers to approach communities they were contractually servicing to request a per unit fee adjustment. ACE never raised that question with the City of Ramsey and honored the per unit fee in the contract. More recently, there has been significant disruption to the recycling commodities markets resulting from a policy shift by China. Much of the United States' recyclable materials, especially plastics and mixed paper, had historically been shipped overseas to China. However, beginning in 2018, China implemented their National Sword policy that included a ban on importing certain scrap materials and for other materials, an extremely stringent contamination rate (not to exceed 0.5%, which is the equivalent of about 10 pounds of contamination per 1 ton of material). Essentially, this move created significant disruption to the recycling commodities markets, resulting in significant processing fees being applied to haulers at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). Again, ACE did not approach the City to discuss any sort of per unit fee adjustment. ACE Solid Waste has been providing dependable recycling service for the community for about 30 years. ACE moved their operation to Ramsey in the early 2000s and continues to invest in the community with improvements to their site. Most recently (2019/2020), this included an expansion of their transfer station facility, creating a more efficient operation (now that the Great River Energy Processing Plant is shut down). As part of this expansion, ACE also included a 'convenience center' for residents to drop off additional recyclable materials (e.g. cardboard, newspaper, etc., that doesn't fit in a residents recycling cart). This benefits residents by not having to 'store' excess recyclables nor drive to another community's recycling center.