Waste Hauler Negotiations Near an End Between Colton and Republic

In what Mayor Richard De La Rosa called "the eleventh hour of negotiations," the Colton City Council on June 2 directed staff to continue discussions with its current solid waste hauler Republic Services, Inc. for a contract renewal that would include increased services to the city as well as a 10-year contract with an option to potentially extend the contract an additional five years and with a core Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of 1.7 percent. The current contract with Republic Services expires in June 2016. The council and Republic have been in contract renewal negotiations since last August and have conducted several workshops this year during these negotiations. The June 2 discussion followed a public hearing and a 5-2 approval of the council, with Council Members Luis Gonzalez and Deirdre Bennett dissenting, of a solid waste services increase from $22.82 per residential household to $23.79 per residential household - or a 4.25 percent increase, which will offset increased costs by Republic Services to dispose of solid waste with the closure of the Colton Landfill, staff reports show. The rate increases for commercial consumers will be from $128.54 to $134 per commercial customer, and industrial consumers from $463.44 to $483.14, according to staff reports. Rates will increase beginning July 1. After over an hour of discussion that centered on the length of the waste hauler's contract term with the city and their CPI rate, the Colton City Council directed city staff including City Manager Bill Smith and Public Works Director Amer Jakher to continue negotiations with Republic Services and draft a contract that, for the newly approved $23.79 residential fees, will include: tree trimming, street sweeping and an expanded discarded pick-up program services beginning this July; and an administrative fee of $120,000, a $1 per ton host fee equaling $30,000, a part-time recycling coordinator, food waste diversion services, an expanded discarded item pick up program, a 5 percent road impact fee totaling $350,000, tree trimming services totaling $80,000 and street sweeping services totaling $210,000 to begin July 2016, alongside a 10-year contract agreement between Republic Services and the city, with an option to renew these services for an additional five years. The council is also requesting that the CPI remain at its current rate, 1.7 percent. The CPI measures changes and adjustments in the cost of living. Republic Services representative Jeff Snow that night told the council that Republic Services is requesting a CPI of 2.5 percent, which would amount to a 12 cent increase in fees per resident, to help the company cover the increased cost of providing services. The rates are available to the public at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website, said Snow, giving it "transparency and justifiability." "We are proposing the garbage and trash index as a mechanism to allow us that we can assure the highest level of services and sustainability to the city of Colton over the long term," Snow said. "We are proposing what we believe is a very fair, very reasonable and very transparent index to be used for the next 10 year term." But many on the council were not in favor of the increased CPI rates, including Mayor De La Rosa, who echoed other council members' sentiments that they were trying to get the best "bang for their buck," as Council Member Isaac Suchil said, for Colton residents. "This council is making sure that our rate payers continue to have rate and service stability... It's about the rates, and the ability to continue to provide the services that we require," said De La Rosa. Snow said that an agreement between Republic Services and the city was "so close that there's nothing that can't be done in the spirit of partnership," but he once again urged the council to consider an increased CPI. "Our men work hard and we want to be able to give them raises and keep their benefits," said Snow. "While we continue to promote and encourage the fairness of the garbage/trash index, to help us make sure we can continue providing the benefits and everything else to our people, we can make this happen, relevant and according with [your] terms," Snow told De La Rosa. Staff was directed by the council to continue talks with Republic and bring the council a draft contract including these stipulations for approval, which Jakher said earlier in the meeting they hoped to do in July.