SR 11-15-2022 5E
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: November 15, 2022
Agenda Item: 5.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Resource Recovery &
Recycling
Subject: Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services to Arakelian Enterprises, Inc.,
dba Athens Services and Chiquita Canyon, LLC
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Award RFP# 313 to Arakelian Enterprises, Inc. dba Athens Services for landfill
trash disposal services for the Public Works Department;
2. Award RFP# 313 to Chiquita Canyon, Inc., dba: Chiquita Canyon, LLC for landfill
trash disposal services for the Public Works Department;
3. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with
Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., dba Athens Services, in an amount not to exceed
$3,279,863 (including a 15% contingency) for two years, with future year funding
contingent on Council budget approval; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Chiquita
Canyon, Inc., dba: Chiquita Canyon, LLC, in an amount not to exceed
$4,575,489 (including a 20% contingency) for two years, with three additional
one-year renewal options in the amount of $7,320,783 on the same terms and
conditions for a total amount not to exceed $11,896,272 over a five-year period,
with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
5. Staff recommends the Council adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant
to Section15301 and 15308 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Guidelines.
Summary
The City and its residents, businesses, and visitors generate approximately 63,500 tons
(or 127,000,000 pounds) of landfill trash materials annually that are sent to landfill
facilities in the Southern California region. The disposal and diversion of these materials
represents a key challenge in achieving the City’s established sustainability goals, and a
unique opportunity to explore alternative paths to compliance. In March 2022, the City
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sought proposals from permitted and experienced landfill facilities to receive and
process the City’s landfill waste materials. As a result of this process, staff
recommends Chiquita Canyon, Inc., dba Chiquita Canyon, LLC and Arakelian
Enterprises, Inc., dba Athens Services as the best contractors to receive the trash
material from the City.
Discussion
The City’s Resource Recovery and Recycling Division provides solid waste
management services for a variety of waste streams: construction and demolition (C&D)
materials, recyclable (blue bin) materials, organics (green bin) materials, and landfill
trash (black bin) materials. Each material type is accepted and handled by different
processing facilities. In an effort to increase the quantity of materials diverted from
landfills, the City Council has adopted several ordinances over the years that mandate
the recycling of construction and demolition (C&D) debris, recyclable, and organics
materials.
The remaining materials that are non-recyclable/re-usable are considered landfill trash.
Landfill trash can include styrofoam, plastic utensils, broken dishes, candy wrappers,
chip bags, and plastic bags. These types of items are sent to regional landfill facilities
for disposal. There are only a few landfill facilities operating in the local region. These
facilities are heavily regulated and once they reach their capacity, they are permanently
closed. The density of the region and the State’s regulatory requirements make it
difficult for new landfills to open, limiting the available options.
Working Toward Zero Waste in 2030
Santa Monica maintains a long-standing commitment to sustainability and fighting
climate change. A central tenet of that effort has been the mandate of achieving Zero
Waste by 2030. Adopted by Council in 2014 (Attachment A) and updated in 2019
(Attachment B), the City’s Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan (Zero Waste
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Plan) provides an environmental policy framework to guide the City on its path to
achieving zero waste, with regular progress updates every five years.
The Zero Waste Plan established the goal of achieving 95 percent landfill diversion, or a
landfill disposal rate of 1.1 pounds per person per day (PPD) by 2030. In order to
achieve this goal, the City needs to drastically reduce the amount of waste sent to the
landfill. The City’s primary area of focus to reduce landfilled waste would mostly come
from recovering additional recyclable and organics materials currently being disposed of
and sent to landfills. The 2019 update prioritized the following actions for immediate
implementation:
• Develop a Zero Waste Program Team that can provide proactive assistance,
community engagement, and a communications plan
• Create, implement, and enforce a comprehensive Zero Waste Ordinance and an
Edible Food Recovery Program.
These actions have commenced, but additional strategies will be necessary in order to
meet the City’s 2030 timeline.
The City has a three-stream solid waste management system: organics, recyclables,
and landfill trash. However, some customer locations do not have the space for the
three-stream system, or are not set up for the new sorting processes. This results in
organics and recyclables that could be diverted ending up in the landfill trash
containers. Mixed waste processing could be a viable solution to that problem and a
component of the City’s zero waste efforts. A mixed waste processing materials
recovery facility (MRF) is a plant that separates black bin landfill trash materials to
recover items that are recyclable, such as (but not limited to) cardboards, food waste,
and beverage containers. The remaining materials that are not recyclable or have no
economic value are sent to the landfill. The benefit of mixed waste processing MRFs is
that they use innovative sorting technologies and human workers to allow for additional
recovery of recyclable materials from items that are discarded in the trash containers;
while the downside is that they cost more to run, as they are also more labor intensive.
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The next Zero Waste Plan update is due in 2024 and the City’s current 2022 waste level
is 3.5 PPD. While encouraging progress has been made since 2019, this is still
considerably higher than the benchmarks established in the approved Zero Waste Plan,
if 1.1 PPD is to be reached by 2030. Sending a portion of the City’s landfill trash
materials to a vendor with mixed waste processing MRF capabilities for additional
processing will allow staff to gather new data, test the effectiveness of this strategy,
calculate the cost-benefit analysis, and return with a 2024 report detailing the feasibility
of this as a long-term option towards achieving the established goal.
Staff will continue to identify new and expanded zero waste opportunities that help to
increase diversion from landfills as techniques and technologies become available.
These additional strategies and potential action items can then be considered and
prioritized as part of the 2024 update.
Vendor Selection
Pre-Qualified Vendors
Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., dba Athens Services
Chiquita Canyon, Inc., dba: Chiquita Canyon, LLC
Evaluation Criteria
The training, credentials and experience of the person or firm; the
capacity of the person or firm to perform the contract or provide the
service promptly, within the time specified, and without delay; and the
character, integrity, reputation and judgment of the person or firm; the
ability of the person or firm to provide such future service as may be
needed; and the price which the person or firm proposes to charge,
including whether the price is fair, reasonable and competitive. The City
shall have absolute discretion in determining the applicability and weight
of the criteria listed above.
The City is not required to select the proposal with the lowest price.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.190
RFQual Data
Date
Posted Posted On
Advertise In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Submittals
Received
Date Publicly
Opened
03/30/2022 City's Online
Bidding Site
Santa Monica
Daily Press 19 4 05/05/2022
Best Bidder Justification
Staff recommends Chiquita Canyon, LLC as the City’s first option for disposal.
Chiquita Canyon submitted the lowest-cost proposal, and it is also one of the City’s
existing landfill contractors that has been providing satisfactory services. Although
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Chiquita Canyon is a traditional landfill, it has put in place numerous practices that
align with the City’s carbon neutrality goal, including generating renewable electricity
and installing a renewable natural gas (RNG) plant on site.
In addition, staff recommends Athens Services as the City’s second option for landfill
trash services. In contrast to a traditional landfill, Athens Services proposes mixed
waste processing, which means the Santa Monica landfill trash materials sent to
Athens’ facility will be sorted via technologically advanced equipment and human
workers first to recover recyclable materials from the loads (which could constitute up
to 30% of the total delivered tonnage) before the remaining non-recyclable materials
are discarded and landfilled. Athens Services’ proposal increases the City’s diversion
rate from landfill facilities, in line with the established Zero Waste goal.
Based on these criteria, the vendors are recommended as best qualified persons or
firms.
The Athens Services contract would be for an initial period of two years, giving staff the
time to monitor the diversion rate and evaluate the effectiveness of mixed waste
processing to determine if continued use beyond the initial two-year period is warranted.
To balance the coverage for Santa Monica’s landfill trash disposal needs, fiscal
responsibility to keep costs down, and to deploy technologies that increase landfill
diversion and aid in the City’s zero waste goals, staff is recommending splitting the
award and entering into contracts with both Chiquita Canyon, LLC (80%) and Athens
Services (20%). Both contracts would be for a not to exceed amount as outlined in the
recommended action, with the City paying only for the actual services provided and no
guarantee of additional work. The contract amounts are set at the upper limits of
possible expenditures based on historical landfill services.
Environmental Review
The award contract for landfill trash disposal service is categorically exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under Sections 15301 and 15308.
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Section 15301 of the CEQA State Guidelines provides Class 1 (existing facilities)
exemption for projects that consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, leasing,
licensing, permitting, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities,
mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion
of the existing or former use. The award contract for trash hauling and disposal would
not result in any modifications to existing landfills or disposal facilities. Solid waste
disposal and diversion services currently exist, and the proposed award contract would
not expand or materially change existing landfill facilities or waste disposal operations.
The selected vendor will be required to comply with existing solid waste regulations and
terms of the agreement and provide similar services to those currently being required
and provided. Therefore, the project is categorically exempt as set forth in Section
15301 of the CEQA State Guidelines.
The project is also exempt pursuant to Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines. Section
15308 (Class 8 Actions for Protection of Environment) exempts actions taken by a
regulatory agency, as authorized by state and local ordinances, to assure the
maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the
regulatory process involves procedures for the protection of the environment. The
award contract would ensure City compliance with solid waste disposal regulations for
the protection of the environment including:
• Integrated Waste Management Act (IWMA) of 1989 requires cities to permit and
regulate solid waste handling;
• Assembly Bill 341 (2011) requires both businesses that generate four cubic yards
or more of solid waste and multifamily projects with five units or more to
participate in a recycling program;
• Assembly 1826 ( 2014), requires businesses, including public entities and
multifamily projects, to recycle their organic waste. Businesses must develop
strategies to reduce and/or arrange for recycling services for the following types
of organic waste: food waste, food-solid paper, green waste, landscaping and
pruning waste, and non-hazardous wood waste;
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• Senate Bill 1383 (2016) established methane emission reduction targets for
California, requiring a 50 percent reduction of organics sent to the landfill by
2020, and a 75 percent reduction by 2025; and
• City’s Zero Waste Plan (Updated 2019) provides an environmental policy
framework to guide the City on its path to achieving zero waste.
The award contract requires the landfill disposal vendors to comply with both State and
local regulations for disposing of waste and ensures the protection of the environment
since the contract contains compliance requirements with State mandates. Therefore,
the project is categorically exempt as set forth in Section 15308 of the CEQA State
Guidelines.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Resource Recovery and
Recycling fund to award contracts to Chiquita Canyon, Inc., dba: Chiquita Canyon, LLC
and Arakelian Enterprises, Inc., dba Athens Services to provide landfill services. Future
year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Contract Request
Vendor FY 2022-23
Amount
Future Years
Amount
Department
Account #
Total
Contract
Amount
Chiquita Canyon, LLC $1,316,724 $ 10,579,548 54500002.523010 $11,896,272
Athens Services $ 937,869 $ 2,341,994 54500002.523010 $ 3,279,863
Total $2,254,593 $12,921,542 $15,176,135
Prepared By: Ryan Kraemer, Senior Administrative Analyst
Approved
Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. Zero Waste Strategic Operations Plan 2014 (Web Link)
B. Adoption of Zero Waste Plan Update and Strategic Direction for Recycling
Services 2019 (Web Link)
C. Athens Services Oaks Initiative Form
D. Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form
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CITY OF SANTA MONICA
OAKS INITIATIVE DISCLOSURE FORM
In order to facilitate compliance with the requirements of the Oaks Initiative, the City
compiles and maintains certain information. That information includes the name of any
person or persons who is seeking a “public benefit.” If the “public benefit” is sought by
an entity, rather than an individual person, the information includes the name of every
person who is: (a) trustee, (b) director, (c) partner, (d) officer, or has (e) more than a ten
percent interest in the entity.
Public benefits include:
1.Personal services contracts in excess of $25,000 over any 12-month period;
2.Sale of material, equipment or supplies to the City in excess of $25,000 over a 12-
month period;
3.Purchase, sale or lease of real property to or from the City in excess of $25,000
over a 12- month period;
4.Non-competitive franchise awards with gross revenue of $50,000 or more in any
12-month period;
5.Land use variance, special use permit, or other exception to an established land
use plan, where the decision has a value in excess of $25,000;
6.Tax “abatement, exception, or benefit” of a value in excess of $5,000 in any 12-
month period; or
7.Payment of “cash or specie” of a net value to the recipient of $10,000 in any 12-
month period.
Name(s) of persons or entities receiving public benefit:
Name(s) of trustees, directors, partners, and officers:
Name(s) of persons with more than a 10% equity, participation, or revenue interest:
Prepared by: ____________________________Title: __________________________
Signature: ______________________________________ Date: ________________
Email: ____________________________________ Phone: ___________________
FOR CITY USE ONLY:
Bid/PO/Contract # ____________________________ Permit # ___________________________
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Packet Pg. 225 Attachment: Athens Services Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)
5.E.dPacket Pg. 226Attachment: Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)
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Packet Pg. 227 Attachment: Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)
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Packet Pg. 228 Attachment: Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)
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Packet Pg. 229 Attachment: Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)
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Packet Pg. 230 Attachment: Chiquita Canyon, LLC Oaks Initiative Form (5305 : Award RFP for Landfill Trash Disposal Services)