Waste Contract Audit: City Council November 2
Consideration of the billing and performance audit of Republic Services. Input from residents is sought by the City.
On Monday, November 2, 2015, the Piedmont City Council will discuss the report on waste services. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611.
The City’s Collection Services Agreement with Republic Services, Inc. is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2018. As provided for in the Agreement, the City has hired a consulting firm (paid for by Republic Services) to prepare a billing audit and performance review report of the services Republic is currently providing. The purpose of the report is to identify areas of compliance and areas for improvement under the existing Agreement, and to begin to plan for the development of a new Agreement to be in place in 2018.
The report is located on the City’s website at >
http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/html/govern/staffreports/2015-11-02/republicservices.pdf
You may choose to write your opinion and address your comments to the Piedmont City Council, c/o City Clerk, 120 Vista Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611 or send an email to: > jtulloch@ci.piedmont.ca.us. All comments submitted will become part of the public record and may be posted to the City’s website.
You are encouraged to attend the meeting and express your opinions and ideas. Alternatively, you may wish to watch the City Council meeting on KCOM, cable 27 or by logging on to the city’s website at www.ci.piedmont.ca.us
: on the right hand side of the homepage under the “City Council” heading, click on the “Online Video” link, then click on the “November 2, 2015” heading, click on the “Video” or “In Progress” link, and start watching!
My only beef with Republic is that the time one can expect a pickup is no longer predictable.
In the beginning of their contract you could almost set your clock by when they arrived each week. Now, it’s guess as guess can.
For me that has caused a problem with the gardener as quite often the green waste from the prior week has yet to be collected when the gardener arrives in the new week.
Renewed consistency would be very much appreciated.
Response to Garbage Service Audit Report:
The audit report provided by the consultant on Republic’s garbage service appears to be thorough and positive. However, staff’s suggestion for “What provisions can be eliminated to lower costs?” is off the mark.
Staff intimates that “Piedmonters might now be willing to abandon backyard service, or pay a higher price for backyard versus curbside pick-up”. This is untrue and ill-conceived.
First, a service reduction is not a “reduction in cost”.
Second, 100% use of backyard service is vital to maintain Piedmont’s standard of cleanliness and sanitation. Republic was originally procured by Piedmont residents precisely to ensure Piedmont maintained its 100% backyard service and the superior service that keep our city beautiful.
Third, across the country garbage companies are strongly pushing cities to effectively eliminate backyard service as contracts are renewed . . . because they reap enormous increased profits when everyone drops backyard service and routes can be run in 50% of the usual time.
Fourth, failure by residents to use backyard service often results in 3 or more unsightly waste containers in front of each property for up to 3 days at a time (before pickup day, pickup day, and after pickup day).
Just ask Oakland. When the Council signed off on a new service contract earlier this year, it neglected to note a huge rate increase for “backyard” service. Now the council is dealing with the fallout of an entire city failing to use backyard service. Its public streets are littered with waste containers (and waste) for half the week. And some people now simply leave their multiple cans out on the street all the time. Under pressure to alleviate their horrendous garbage situation, the Council has now apparently promised some subsidies to customers (after admitting they didn’t read the entire contract!).
Don’t let garbage companies bully Piedmont into giving up 100% backyard service.