Fort Collins City Council votes to seek bids for residential trash contract

The city of Fort Collins will seek bids from haulers in pursuit of a citywide contract for trash and recycling pickup at single-family homes and small multifamily complexes.

Fort Collins City Council voted 4-2 on Tuesday to issue a request for proposals, the first step in creating the trash contract. The "no" votes were council members Susan Gutowsky and Shirley Peel; Mayor Jeni Arndt was absent.

The vote also directed city staff to develop a residential waste program where a single hauler will handle trash, recycling and seasonal yard-trimmings pickup for thousands of homes in city limits. The city could issue the RFP as soon as August and select a hauler as soon as November, with program rollout expected in 2023 or 2024.

Council’s vote doesn’t obligate the city to enter a contract, though, so if the city isn’t satisfied with any of the bids from haulers it could table the issue.

With guidance from staff, council is planning to exempt homeowners’ associations with existing trash contracts from the new program. Multifamily complexes with nine units or more, businesses and construction sites will still be able to choose their own hauler. Those groups make up about 80% of the local hauling market by revenue, staff estimated.

Residents whose homes are included in the contract will need to pay an opt-out fee if they want to use a different hauler than the one involved in the contract. The monthly fee will be based on the price of service for the smallest trash cart, currently in the $10-$20 range. It could be lower if the city negotiates a lower rate.

Food scraps pickup won’t be included in the contract. Council members said they’d like to revisit that once a regional facility exists for large-scale food scrap composting.

Want more details?Here are answers to FAQs about the trash contract proposal

Council members who voted for the trash contract proposal praised its potential for lowering residents’ trash bills, allowing for streamlined integration of yard trimmings pickup and reducing truck traffic on residential streets. Staff estimate the reduction in truck traffic would save the city an estimated $603,000 each year in street maintenance and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 1,200 metric tons, which was about .07% of the community’s emissions in 2020.

“There were so many positives that came up with this data that I wasn’t anticipating, and I think we’ve got great information from peer cities so we can see what the best practices are here,” council member Tricia Canonico said, adding that reducing emissions was one of the biggest selling points for her. “I think it’s incumbent upon every community to do whatever we can, because as we’ve stated as a council, we’re in a climate emergency. This is something we can feasibly do here in Fort Collins.”

About a half-dozen people shared negative comments about the trash contract proposal at public comment. Their main concerns were about how the contract could decrease local competition, hurt the haulers that aren’t chosen for the contract and create an obstacle for residents who want to choose their own hauler.

One man said he generates very little trash and the opt-out fee would negate the financial incentive to do so. (Speaking to this concern, staff said they'll request pricing from bidders for a special "ultra-low generator" rate.)

What you'll vote on:Fort Collins City Council wants voters to decide these 3 issues in November

Barrett Jensen of Waste Connections, the international company that purchased Ram Waste, said the company disapproved of the city’s plan to require trash and recycling to be hauled to the Larimer County landfill. He added that Ram Waste would prefer the city serve as the “single-payer” for the contract and handle individual customer billing in-house.

Fort Collins Chief Financial Officer Travis Storin said the city doesn’t have the capacity to handle trash and recycling billing for the contract, which would represent an estimated 50% increase in city billing activity, or about 50,000 new bills.

Fort Collins is still working to overhaul its utility billing system after a previous, failed attempt resulted in a lawsuit with the contractor. The city could look to take on billing in the future with the new billing system in place and added staff capacity, Storin said. Customer service would continue to be the hauler's responsibility, but the city plans to require that baseline customer service be provided by staff who are dedicated to and familiar with the city.

Council member Kelly Ohlson compared Tuesday night’s reception to the last time council considered a trash contract, when there were “hundreds of people screaming at me” in council chambers. He said he’s heard from many residents who think Fort Collins is ready for a contract.

Peel and Gutowsky, however, said they’ve heard heavy resident criticism of the contract approach outside of council meetings. Peel said she was “not quite to yes” on the idea.

“I’m not sure if we’ll see the benefits that you are saying we’ll see,” she said. “I know council member Ohlson said people are ready for this, but I’ve actually been amazed at how passionate people are about trash and how much I’m hearing ‘no’ on this. … If this passes, the world’s not going to end. And if it works, then in a couple of years, nobody will really care that it was such a huge discussion. I hope you’re right.”

Let's talk trash:Fort Collins residents sound off on details of single hauler proposal

Much of council’s discussion revolved around the opt-out fee. Gutowsky said she’s heard from residents who characterized the proposal as paternalistic and coercive, bristling at the opt-out fee in particular.

“How can this be the Choice City when you’re taking my choice?” she said, describing some of the criticism.

Gutowsky proposed reducing the opt-out fee to $5. But other council members disagreed, pointing out that the city of Arvada saw an initial opt-out rate of about 40% when they charged an opt-out fee of $4. Lower participation would erode the benefits of the contract and reduce efficiency for the hauler, potentially increasing prices for everyone, staff told council.

“If we don't have the right opt-out rate, the whole house of cards collapses,” Ohlson said.

"Part of good governance is if we're going to move something forward, that we do it knowing we can be successful," Canonico added. "If we have an opt-out rate of 30-40%, I don't know how successful a program that would be for us or for whoever got the contract."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins to seek bids for residential trash contract