Cape Council to begin looking at trash collection options
The Cape Coral City Council will decide Monday whether to open negotiations with its current trash collector while also leaving the door open to a new provider.
Council will consider a resolution to authorize the city manager to enter into renewal negotiations for solid waste collection with Waste Pro for an additional five-year renewal, until Sept. 30, 2025.
The resolution would give the city 60 days to negotiate with Waste Pro to determine if the two parties can agree to terms. If not, the city could then go out for requests for proposal from other companies, said Assistant City Manager Connie Barron.
City Manager John Szerlag said he has tapped four people, including Public Works Director Paul Klinghan, to lead the negotiation team along with Finance Director Victoria Bateman, Procurement Manager Wanda Root, and Stacy Mayne, Klinghan’s business manager.
“Our objective is to see if we can reach an agreement with Waste Pro on a new contract and if we can’t, we can go out to bid,” Szerlag said. “I’m recommending we go out to bid if they cannot reach an agreement we can bring to the city council.”
The city has used Waste Pro for solid waste collection since 2010. Its first five-year agreement was automatically renewed in 2015 and will expire Sept. 30, 2020.
Per the contract terms, an intent to extend or terminate the agreement shall be made in writing by either the contractor or the city not less than 12 months prior to the expiration of the contract, but not more than 18 months. The deadline of said communication is Sept. 30.
Waste Pro has told the city of its desire to negotiate the additional renewal.
If city staff and Waste Pro cannot agree to the terms on or before Dec. 31, staff will terminate negotiation, notify the city council and request authorization to issue an RFP for solid waste collection.
According to city research on similarly sized cities, municipalities who are or have recently gone through the RFP process have seen large increases in costs for removal along with, in many cases, a lower service level.
A cost comparison of several municipalities indicates that the city’s current collection costs are in the lower percentile with one of the higher levels of service.
There will be no other ordinances or resolutions in the public hearing portion of the agenda. The city council will also name an alternate to the Budget Review Committee and fill four vacancies on the Construction Regulation Board.
The meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall,