By admin 
The city of West Sacramento will host an open house on Tuesday evening to answer community questions about a new trash collection contract and how it was negotiated. The event comes on the heels of an hourslong city council discussion where elected officials and members of the public criticized the way the city chose a contractor and said the public should have had more of a say in the decision.
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West Sacramento has worked with the same trash hauler, WM, formally known as Waste Management, for decades. WM’s contract ends in June and the city initiated a competitive bidding process for its trash services. City staff evaluated proposals from WM and two other companies, Atlas Disposal and GreenWaste Recovery.
No matter which company the city chose, rates are slated to go up. That’s due to a nearly $2 million gap between what the city pays its current hauler and what it charges residents and businesses. Rates would also increase because the city is transferring billing responsibilities to its contractor.
City staff determined in May that the best offer came from GreenWaste, a San Jose-based company that serves more than 20 public entities and 300,000 residential customers.
GreenWaste and city staff negotiated a contract and brought it to the city’s Environmental and Utilities Commission at its Aug. 10 meeting. The commission declined to recommend it to the City Council, which has final approval, without more community input in an Aug. 10 meeting.
The City Council held a workshop to discuss the contract during its Aug. 19 meeting. City staff made several changes to the contract in response to feedback from the commission meeting. Residents and City Council members, however, expressed disappointment with the amount of public input in the decision and asked questions about what the contract included.
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All three bids expire in mid-September. If the city does not sign a contract, it could be forced to start a new bidding process. If no decision is made, each company would have the option to extend the deadline on its bid. City staff aim to present the contract to the council for a final vote at its Sept. 9 meeting.
The city plans to host several outreach events in their press to answer questions and hear feedback before the deadline.
The city held an outreach event at Rhythm on the River at The Barn on Thursday. It will also host two events at the West Sacramento Recreation Center, one at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, and another at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2. The city will host an outreach event at the West Sacramento Senior Center at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3.
The city’s community open house will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The open house is an effort to ensure residents know what the contract includes and to answer questions about the decision-making process. City staff believe the open house format is best suited for direct community feedback ahead of the deadline. The city also published an FAQ page on its website to answer common questions.
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