Agenda - Council - 10/28/2025 - Laserfiche WebLink

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2.01: Curbside Recycling Contract Senior Planning Anderson reviewed the Staff report in regard to the curbside recycling contract with ACE Solid Waste. He shared the EPB's recommendation to stay with a single contracted service rather than an open hauling system. Councilmember Buscher said she would not want to have an open hauler system, but she does not feel strongly whether they stay with ACE or get bids from other companies. She noted an RFP would be nice to see if their current contract is competitive. She added that she would like to implement a labor agreement with the next contractor. Councilmember Specht asked how many residents utilize the recycling service. Senior Planner Anderson shared that he gets a monthly report from ACE and about 90% of residents are using this service every month. Councilmember Specht asked if there is an option for residents to opt out of using ACE. Senior Planner Anderson said residents can opt not to recycle; however, they would still be responsible for paying the $3.98 for the service. Councilmember Specht asked if it would be feasible to offer an opt out option. He shared that he hears from residents who are frustrated that they have to pay for the service when they do not recycle. Senior Planner Anderson said they could explore this; however, he thinks it would be very challenging to implement and would also make it difficult to negotiate a contract. Councilmember Specht asked how much of the recycled materials are actually able to be recycled rather than what is contaminated and has to be disposed of. Senior Planner Anderson explained that in 2017 and 2018, very strict contamination levels were implemented where almost all recyclers stopped exporting their materials. He noted that he gets a tonnage report from ACE and he is required to report this data to the County. He shared that he has reached out to ACE to ask if this tonnage report is from before or after the contaminated materials were disposed of. He said he has not gotten an answer on this yet. Councilmember Riley shared that he agrees with the recommendation of the EPB and if the current system is working he does not see a need to change it. He said they do need to be confident that they are getting the best price for this service and if they feel they can do this through negotiations with ACE then he is supportive of that, or if it would be better to have an RFP, he would support that as well. Councilmember Stewart asked when the City did an RFP last for this service.