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sr-112310-3fCity Council Meeting: November 23, 2010 Agenda Item: J" To: Mayor and City Council From: Dean Kubani, Director, Office of Sustainability and the Environment Subject: Contract with Curbside, Inc., to Provide Door-to-Door Hazardous Waste Transportation, Management, and Recycling/Disposal Services Recommended Action Staff recommends the City Council: 1. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with Curbside, Inc., a California-based company, for door-to-door hazardous waste transportation, management, and recycling/disposal services from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011 in the amount of $110,000 with a renewal option through June 30, 2015 in the amount of $250,000 per fiscal year. 2. Authorize the budget changes as outlined in the Financial Impacts and Budget Actions section of this report. Executive Summary The City of Santa Monica is seeking to transition its Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection program to a citywide door-to-door collection program. A permanent facility is currently available four days per week. The door-to-door collection program will be available five days per week for all single-family and multi-family residential households, and on afee-for-service basis to City in-house operations and small quantity business generators. Transitioning to a door-to-door program will improve services to all residents including the elderly and disabled, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic from vehicles traveling to the City Yards, and result in annual savings of approximately $100,000. Staff recommends Curbside Inc. be awarded a six month contract in the amount of $110,000 to June 30, 2011. At the contract's conclusion, staff will evaluate the quality of service and make a determination regarding the permanent transition to a door-to-door collection program. Staff recommends that if the contractor's performance is satisfactory, Curbside, Inc. provide the same services through June 2015 at an annual cost of $250,000. 1 Background The City of Santa Monica generates hazardous waste on a continuous basis from residents, in-house City operations, and emergency response. Hazardous waste generation, storage, transportation and disposal/recycling activities -are regulated by state and federal law. Hazardous waste must be transported by state and federally certified haulers and recycled or disposed of at state or federally certified and permitted facilities. The City's HHW facility, located at the City Yards, is managed by the Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE), staffed by two full-time hazardous materials technicians and two part-time contracted staff, and open to the public four days per week. The HHW program processes an average of 160,000 pounds of hazardous waste from 4,500 residents per year. Typical types of hazardous waste collected from residents include paints, adhesives, batteries, aerosols, fluorescent lamps, electronics, used oil, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. Discussion Staff has developed a plan to transition the City's HHW collection program from its permanent facility at the Yards to a citywide door-to-door collection program. The program would be available five days per week for free for single-family and multi-family residential households, and on afee-for-service basis to small quantity business generators. City iri-house operations will have the opportunity to utilize this same service to dispose of their hazardous waste or select their own contractor. The program will operate in the following manner: During the pilot program, residents will have the option to call a hotline number or go to a website to schedule an appointment for door-to-door collection between the hours of 5 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Residents are not required to be home at the time of collection. 2 • A bilingual hotline operator will verify the type and quantity of waste to be collected and screen for waste requiring special treatment such as pharmaceuticals. • When a collection is scheduled, Curbside, Inc. will ship an HHW collection kit (bag) to the resident. • The resident will place all of his or her waste in the kit, seal it, and place it in a secure pre-arranged location on the resident's property out of the public right-of- way. The materials will be collected and separated by hazard classification within Curbside, Ines pick-up vehicle and then transported to Cubside's facility in Placentia, California. • The materials will be offloaded at the facility and readied for transportation to recycling or disposal destinations. Approximately 80% of the materials will be recycled. If stafFs evaluation of the pilot program is favorable at the conclusion of the pilot program, the HHW facility will be permanently closed to the public while the door-to- door program continues to operate during the week. Transitioning to a door-to-door program will expand the City's sustainability goals while improving services offered to residents including, the elderly and disabled, by providing direct in-house assistance for the collection of all hazardous waste, including pharmaceuticals. The program will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and traffic from the more than 5,000 vehicles that travel to the HHW facility annually. In addition annual salary savings of approximately $100,000 will be achieved through the elimination of one full time hazardous materials technician position which is currently vacant. The other full time hazardous materials technician will be retained to manage the program. Contractor Selection The City solicited proposals from five companies with demonstrated expertise in the transportation and staffing of hazardous waste programs. A notice of the Request for Proposal was placed in the Santa Monica Dailv Press, Planet Bids, and on the City's 3 website. A committee consisting of staff from the OSE ,Risk Management, and the Fire Department reviewed four proposals. The committee determined that Curbside, Inc. submitted the most cost-effective and responsive proposal. Curbside, Inc. demonstrated consistent and reliable environmental services, proper management and transportation of hazardous waste, well-qualified and. professional staff, and provided the lowest cost for delivering the services. Based upon these criteria, the. committee recommends that Curbside, Inc. provide a pilot program and based on performance, the permanent door-to-door collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of ,residential and small business hazardous waste. Staff requests that the initial pilot program and contract period extend through June 30, 2011, with possible renewal allowed for an additional four years. A six month pilot program was selected to provide adequate time for OSE to inform the public of the transition and to evaluate the performance of Curbside, Inc. in delivering this service. The services will be evaluated based professionalism, safety, customer service surveys, regulatory compliance, and cost. If Curbside, Inc. meets the expectations of the City, the contract will be extended through June 2015 at an annual cost of $250,000.. Curbside Inc. has discounted its prices during the six month pilot period from $125,000 to $110,000. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions If evaluated as successful and the contract is extended, this program will reduce the annual cost of operating the HHW program by approximately $100,000 a year due to salary savings and reduced maintenance and operation costs. The full annual implementation cost is estimated at $250,000 for unlimited service to each household. This program will result in additional savings of $1.7 million through elimination of a proposed HHW facility from the design for the new Resource Recovery and Recycling Center. Funding in the amount of $110,000 to implement the six month pilot program in FY 10/11 is available in account 01226.555130. 4 The following FY 2010-2011 budget changes will be necessary: 1. Transfer $89,845 to 01226.555130 from 01226.511000 while maintaining existing staff. Budget authority for subsequent years, estimated at $250,000 per fiscal year, will be requested in each annual budget cycle for Council's approval. Prepared by: James Conway, Senior Environmental Analyst Approved: ~~ ~iG Dean Kubani Director, Office of Sustainability and the Environment Forwarded to Council: o, r Rod Gould City Manager 5 Reference Contract No. 9298 (CCS).