At its January 31, 2024 meeting, the City Commission approved a referral to the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) to discuss qualitative and quantitative criteria to be considered in the procurement of a “single hauler” (exclusive agreement) for multi-family residential and commercial waste collection and disposal.

Sponsoring Commissioner Fernández would like for FERC members to consider qualitative and quantitative criteria that should be included in the RFP to be drafted by staff, since Commissioner Domínguez’s item to terminate Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2023-506-WG for non-exclusive franchise waste haulers to provide multi-family and commercial waste collection and disposal was adopted by the Mayor and City Commission on March 13, 2024.

Should the City decide to embark upon the process of implementing a “single hauler” solution for multi-family and commercial waste collection and disposal, sponsoring Commissioner Fernández believes Commission members should provide sufficient and clear direction to the Administration involved in drafting of the Request For Proposals (RFP), with an objective to secure the best possible service for the lowest price with the most effective contract administration and enforcement provisions.

At its January 31, 2024 meeting, Commissioner Domínguez presented a Resolution, directing the Administration to terminate Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 2023-506-WG for non-exclusive franchise waste haulers to provide multi-family and commercial waste collection and disposal, to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) for a “single hauler” for such services, to award an exclusive franchise to the qualified proposer having the most competitive and comprehensive proposal, including with respect to customer pricing, such RFP to be reviewed and approved by the Mayor and City Commission prior to issuance.  Subsequently, at the March 13, 2024 meeting the item was approved unanimously to terminate RFQ 2023-506-WG.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

There are various components to a single hauler system that must be adequately evaluated and addressed before the RFP is issued. A menu of services needs to be part of an RFP so pricing can be obtained for all services potentially needed. At a minimum the Administration recommends consideration of the following to be included as part of the RFP process:

1) The length of the agreement should be a minimum of 7 to 10 years with an allowance for multiple renewal extensions. For the single hauler to recoup their significant capital costs while providing competitive pricing to the customers a long-term agreement is necessary.

2) In the evaluation of the proposals, price needs to be weighted at 40-60%.  Financial liquidity must also be an important evaluation criterion that should be considered. Financial stability, competitive pricing are key metrics that need to be evaluated.

3) Separate pricing structures for multifamily and commercial accounts should be provided. Each group should have dumpster, compactor and cart categories for different services that can be provided. In addition, for multi-family of nine or more units, recycling needs to be included in the RFP as part of the services provided.  Additionally, the  single hauler should offer recycling pricing for commercial accounts to provide customers another option to either choose their own recycling services or included as part of the single hauler services.

4) An increase in Sanitation staffing levels for this single hauler system which include a budgeted contract administrator and 2 budgeted customer service representatives is required. Further analysis by the Administration may be necessary to determine if additional field staffing may be required to oversee the hauler’s day to day operations.

5) A financial analysis is required to ensure that the current franchise fee of 24% which supplements a substantial portion of the sanitation budget as well as position and programs for Environment and Sustainability is part of the service fee under the single hauler system.

6) A determination should be made for billing customers, whether the city perform this service as it currently does for the residential contract or to have the single hauler provide it.

7) An alternative option to include bulk waste for condo and business owners in this RFP should be included in the RFP.